No Two Ways
by betty-boo
Summary: Sequel to 'Land of the Living'. Cracks appear in the Club and in the family that Charlotte has grown up with. Language, sex, violence, Chibs/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One – Things Ain't Like What They Used To Be**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sons of Anarchy or anything affiliated with the show. No infringement intended. No money is made from this.**

**Author Note: Reupload. Was never really happy with the other one. Don't review. It's the worst thing ever.**

:****:

"Jesus fuckin' Christ, Charlie! Not this shit again!" Chibs exasperated, his volume bordering on shouting.

"Would it really kill you to turn your phone off once in a while? For us to go out?"

"We've been out every night this week," he reasoned.

"Been out? Going to the Clubhouse does not constitute as 'out'," she snorted.

"You knew," he threw over his shoulder as he walked through her living room, weaving his way through her many piles of stacked cardboard boxes she had yet to unpack since moving house. He kicked one box filled with kitchen utensils out of his way and scooped up his cut from the arm of her sofa, "You _knew_ that it'd be like this!"

Their conflicting schedules made it hard for them to find time to spend together and when they did, he often had to leave for Club business. She wasn't asking for the world. She just wanted to spend time with him and not have him bailing on her. He was right; she knew it was going to be like this. But when the reality of it actually hit her, when she found herself alone in a quiet house most nights, chewing her fingernails and praying for safety, it was harder to digest than she first thought.

Charlotte took out the ribbon in her hair and ran her fingers through it, easing the tension in her head. She'd only intended to bring up the fact that she hardly ever saw him any more but it had escalated to something much heavier.

"Do you realise that I saw you more when we were sneaking around than I do now?"

She heard him sigh and saw his shoulders sag before he turned away from the front door to look at her.

He saw a flash a doubt cross her eyes before he saw longing. Longing for something he couldn't give to her with a click of his fingers, longing for an answer from him.

"I-" he threw his hands in the air, "What do you want me to do?"

Charlotte huffed and pushed past him. In her rush, her foot clipped the edge of an unpacked moving box and she stumbled. olding out her hand to steady herself she misjudged and whacked her forearm against a doorframe.

"Fuck it!" she hissed, immediately holding her wrist to her. She'd sprained it only days before after slipping out the shower and had been given a prescription of Percocet to help with the pain. Knocking it like she did flared it up gain and now her eyes were stinging with tears.

"You ok?" Chibs tentatively asked from behind her.

She only nodded and so he walked to her trying to take her arm in his hand to have a look.

"Don't!" She pulled away. "I have to get to work.. And I suppose you do to."

Her voice trailed off with a sadness to it, and she disappeared down the hallway into her bedroom.

"The fuck you lookin' at?" Chibs snarled at Madison who was staring at him gormlessly with her pink tongue hanging out, panting heavily. The dog looked down the corridor and whined.

"Yeah, I know she's upset. I don't need a fat, hairy dog to tell me that."

Madison whimpered and trotted away from him to the kitchen.

"Women."

He slammed the front door shut.

He was pissed off too, but him goingto her now would only make it worse and he would get his balls cut off.

In her bedroom Charlotte opened the cupboard under her vanity sink and bought out her bottle of Percocet, taking one for the pain in her wrist.

:*****:

Charlotte was late for work at Heather's Boutique, again. It was her second offense in 5 days and rightly so Heather gave her a stern look when she entered, almost an hour late for her shift.

"Charlotte, where were you?" Heather asked, guiding her into the store room at the back of the shop.

"Sorry, I had a -uh - family issue," Charlotte lied. Truth was the Percocet hit her harder than before and she felt dopey when she was getting dressed for work. After getting ready she didn't trust herself to drive and had crashed out on the sofa.

Heather pursed her lips.

"I understand you have _family_ _commitments_, but if it gets in the way of you working here, then that's something we may need to look at. Next time, call me, okay? Now, go dress the window for the new collection."

Charlotte nodded and got to work straight away.

Standing in the window dressing the mannequins, she saw Sam Crow ride in formation down Main Street heading out of town. She didn't know for sure but she suspected they were going to their new warehouse in Caracara.

She sighed heavily, replaying that morning's argument with Chibs in her head, wondering what she could've said differently that wouldn't of given her this headache. Maybe she did over react, maybe he wasn't into this as much as she was, maybe they were better off as two seperate people...her head was swimming with maybe's.

:****:

Although the targets he was firing at were just paper, it felt good for Chibs to release the tension from earlier that morning. Charlotte had bought something up but then it'd been blown way out of proportion, and he wasn't honestly sure who was to blame for it.

He didn't know what Charlotte wanted exactly, so he couldn't give it to her. She wanted to spend time together, so they did. At the Clubhouse bar, or in his room, or at her house. Where was the problem in that? What more did she want?

He altered his stance, holding the gun with one hand and aimed steadily to unload nearly a full clip into the head of his paper target.

That felt better. It released some of his sexual tension too; the only sex act he'd indulged in in almost three weeks was one-to-one action with his right hand and an Aurora Snow DVD. The past few weeks the warehouse rebuild had suddenly gained vast momentum and without Bobby there for the financial help they'd all had to step in. He put in long days at the garage and long nights, working with the Prospect on both his boxing and his bike, too. When he wasn't beyond tired he'd ride over to Charlotte's to spend the night only to find her semi-passed out on the sofa after her own hard day at work. Neither of them could barely make it to the bedroom up the stairs, let alone doing anything once inside.

Tig, looking past Juice, glanced at Chibs from the corner of his eye. Cameron had given them 2 clips each to play with, and Chibs had just blown most of one of them on one poor target.

"Prospect, put 'em up," Tig ordered, looking at the poor shreds of paper that had once been Chibs' full target. He suspected something was off with his brother; he was normally much more controlled than that, shooting in short, sharp bursts. The way he had laid into that target had been about releasing something pent up inside.

_Boy's not been getting' any from Charlie, _he suddenly realised and masked his small smile by ducking his head and pretending to look at the gun in more detail. Just another reason for him to stick with banging hookers.

:*** *:

The one downside to Charlotte's new job at Heather's was that she missed out on the day to day shenanigans at Teller-Morrow automotive. On her lunch break one day she visited the garage to use the office printer.

"Hello baby boy!" Charlotte cooed, taking Abel out his pram as Gemma bought him into the office. "Everything okay?"

"He's great. Doc says we gotta beef him up though."

"Is he still fussy with the feedings?"

"Yeah."

"How about trying soy-based milk?"

Gemma stared at Charlotte.

"What? I read lots of magazines when Wendy was pregnant. _Someone_ had to bone up on child care," Charlotte said in way of defence of the look she was getting off Gemma.

"Read any magazines lately? I don't want to be a Grandma again too soon, y'know."

Chibs had been walking to the office to grab some paperwork when he'd caught the last of Gemma's words. He raised his eyebrows and threw a worried look to Charlotte, who in turn glared at Gemma, who was watching the two of them with an equal mixture of interest and amusement.

"Come on handsome, let's go see Grandpa."

Gemma kissed Charlotte on the cheek then retreated with Abel into the Clubhouse.

"I gotta go."

"I gotta get some paperwork."

Charlotte and Chibs said at the same time, avoiding each other's eyes. She gathered her print outs hastily and headed to the door.

"I'll see you later, for Bobby's party," she smiled, looking forward to Bobby's release. The case was over weeks ago, and they'd all missed him. Especially his muffin runs.

"Want me to pick you up?" He asked, routing through Clay's piles of crap on the desk. If Gemma was playing Grandma and babysitter then they needed to hire an extra pair of hands to keep on top of the office. Paperwork, they had learnt, was not Juice's forte in life.

"Nah, it's ok, I'll drive and stay over."

:*** *:

Jax entered the Clubhouse glad to see everyone had turned up for Bobby, who was face down in some girl's crotch on the pool table. He walked to the bar and saw Charlotte sitting with Coco, an Oregon Sam Crow Ol' Lady with long, flame red hair and lips to match.

"What's up with you?" He asked Charlotte who was laughing so much she was crying.

"We're playing Chubby Bunny," Coco replied, around a mouthful of marsh mallows. Charlotte looked up, laughed, nearly choked and spat her marshmallows out onto the bar.

"You okay?" She asked, worried when Clay said he was out on his own. When she asked Chibs about it he just said that Jax wanted to do it on his own, and that he was more than capable of doing so.

Jax nodded.

"Where're the others?" He shouted above the music.

"Around. Haven't seen Clay in a while. Chibs is over there with his new toy."

_New toy?,_ Jax pondered and looked over his shoulder to see Chibs and the Prospect engaged in some sort of wrestling game.

"A'ight, I'll catch you later," he replied kissing her forehead, noticing the slight scowl on her face.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two – Little Girl Blue**

.com/watch?v=C3Fzql-3_zM

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sons of Anarchy or anything affiliated with the show. No infringement intended. No money is made from this.**

**Author Notes: There's no tweaks in this chapter. The major tweaks will start in later chapters. There's a lovely scene with Jimmy O and Chibs to look forward too.**

**Side Note: My Mum is back from the hospital, her surgery went really well and the cancer hasn't spread. She's just at home resting and recovering. Thanks to everyone who posted their good wishes and prayers.**

****

Charlotte awoke with a slight start, blinking rapidly before carefully turning over to assess her current situation better. She had fallen asleep on the sofa; her head in Chibs' lap, one of her legs splayed over HalfSack's lap and the other trapped behind the back of his head, where he was currently using her calf as a pillow.

She began pulling her leg from behind his head but he wasn't letting up easily on it. As she started to wiggle her leg free he groaned and opened one eye, making another noise that signified he wasn't happy with being moved.

"Let me go Prospect or I'll throw up on you!" She whispered harshly to him. She had the all too well known feeling in the pit of her stomach that she was about to throw up.

HalfSack leant forward slightly and her leg was freed. She sprung up from the couch and moved fast across the floor on her bare feet, eager to miss all the vomit puddles and shattered bottles that littered the floor.

Charlotte knew she wouldn't reach the toilet in time so she headed past the two drunk ladies by the entrance and ran into the cleaning closet just by the bar, throwing up into the mop bucket just in time.

A guy in a white wife beater who was previously sleeping on the floor stirred awake.

"You look," he slurred, using all his energy to lift his head off the floor, "how I feel," he finished, letting his head land on the floor with a soft thud.

Wiping her mouth she dared to open her eyes and look at what she had produced. It was practically pure liquid tinged a wonderful shade of coral pink; she could probably distil it and sell it as alcohol again. She knew better then to mix her drinks.

_Prospect's gonna have fun cleaning this shit up._

A phone started ringing nearby and after deducing it wasn't hers, Charlotte curled up on her side, laying right next to the mop bucket.

_Just in case_.

**:*****:**

"Gemma?"

Gemma snapped her head up towards the door, immediately regretting her movements as every muscle in her back twinged and the uncomfortable burn like feeling rushed in between her legs. Charlotte poked her head into the hospital room before entering, a comforting smile on her face. Closing the door behind her, she placed her bag on the bed next to Gemma, who had just finished getting dressed after tests from Tara.

"I bought you a coffee from Nikki's, thought it'd be better than the crap they serve here."

Charlotte handed Gemma the take out cup of coffee, to which Gemma gave a small smile and took a sip. The liquid was deliciously warm and the comforting. The homely aroma of coffee filled her senses.

"Look at you, Mama bear," Charlotte cooed softly, placing her hands on Gemma's face. Her hands were cool and against the humidity and stuffiness of the hospital room they offered comfort on her swollen face. They felt smooth, and small, not big and rough like... _them_.

"I'm fine," Gemma insisted, instinctively bringing a hand over Charlotte's. "Shouldn't you be at work, young lady?" She softly chided.

"It's my lunch break; I wanted to see you."

"I'm fine," Gemma repeated, "Get outta here before I get you fired."

She managed a small smile.

Charlotte nodded, thumb skimming over Gemma's swollen lips before she placed a soft kiss on them. Gemma relished in the softness of her lips; they were gentle, loving, and healing.

Before she left, Charlotte looked over her shoulder for the last time, and it made Gemma feel twice as guilty for not telling her the truth. They were closer than she and Tara were. Charlotte would tell Clay and Jax in a heartbeat and then go on a vigilante mission herself, with or without the Club's backup. She'd get herself injured or killed quicker than Gemma would be able to save her.

She'd never ask Charlotte to carry her burden like Tara.

**:*****:**

"What can I help you with today, Charlotte?" Doctor Green asked her as he finished writing up his notes on a previous patient. He looked at her over the rim of his gold framed glasses when she didn't speak immediately.

"I need - My wrist - The Percocet, I need some more."

She sat on the clinically white examination chair sideways with her legs crossed, wringing her hands together in her lap. The small room was stuffy and as Dr. Green continued to stare at her it felt like the walls were closing in on her.

"You've had a course of both the two point five and the five milligram Percocet," he confirmed, looking over her file and shaking his head. "Honestly, that's more than what you need for your type of injury. Just take Ibuprofen if you get any pain."

"But I'm not sleeping, I can't get comfortable," she tried to reason with him.

"There's a wide selection of sleeping pills at the local pharmacy, you don't need a prescription for those."

"Sleeping pills?" She queried, getting curious.

"Yes, they're very mild, almost all of them contain natural ingredients. Try those. You don't need anything else, Charlotte."

She tried to convince him otherwise, but failed to sway his professional opinion. The tone of his voice indicated he was getting agitated that she wouldn't accept his answer.

Opening the door a little way open, she peered down the hall making sure nobody she knew was occupying it.

**:*****:**

"This bitch doesn't say anything, what does that mean?" Weston asked Zobelle.

Zobelle pursed his lips briefly as he collected his thoughts. Placing a hand on the other man's shoulder he guided him further towards the front of his store.

"I'm keeping an eye on Miss. Davis-Morrow."

Zobelle looked out the shop's open door, and gestured across the street. "Heather's Boutique" was just across the road and a few buildings down from his own store. They could easily see Charlotte through the store window, serving a customer.

"You want me to-" Weston started.

"No, but soon," Zobelle interrupted speaking slowly, a plan forming in his mind.

"I thought you said to go for the Matriarch, why-"

"Miss. Davis-Morrow," Zobelle interrupted again, "is young, naive and fragile. She depends on her family and friends more than any of them. We isolate her, remove her from the ones she loves and she'll crumble like the rest of them."

Weston nodded silently.

**:*****:**

Despite having over 300 channels on her cable TV Charlotte couldn't find anything that could take her mind off the porn wrap party. Juice had mentioned it earlier to her, and in passing she mentioned it to Chibs. He then absently asked her if she was going but she declined as she hadn't been feeling too good that day.

Chibs, an ambassador of all things porn, had gone of course, without her, and now she couldn't stop thinking about what he was doing with all those topless porn actresses.

She sprung up off her sofa and grabbed her mobile off the coffee table, sending Tara a text message as she headed upstairs to her bedroom, telling her to be ready in 15 minutes.

10 minutes later Charlotte and Tara were heading towards Caracara.

"Jax said you weren't going, he said you weren't feeling too good."

Charlotte glanced at Tara out the corner of her eye.

"You don't trust him?" Tara asked, referring to Chibs.

"I trust him, I just want to mark my territory."

After a few moments silence, Tara spoke again.

"Have you ever - you ever hit a woman?"

"Of course. I shoved a girl's head under a full water butt once, too, till Bobby pulled me off her. That was fun. Bitch deserved it, though."

Charlotte didn't offer any more of an explanation than that so Tara didn't push it further.

After arriving at the studios the women exited the car and for the first time that night Charlotte took in Tara's appearance.

"We need to go shopping."

Tara stopped, noticing the look that the younger woman was giving her. She looked down at her attire.

"What's wrong with the way I dress?"

Charlotte raised an eyebrow and looked down at her own outfit, as did Tara; tight black jeans, gold high heels and a printed t-shirt that hung so low off one shoulder Charlotte's leopard print bra was visible. It looked trashy in Tara's eyes, but Charlotte was pulling it off well, something she knew she wouldn't be able to.

As Tara was about to reply her phone went off in her pocket.

"I gotta take this, I'll meet you inside," she said looking at the caller ID.

Charlotte didn't argue with the Doctor, the night air was cold and she didn't want to stand there like a piece of useless furniture.

After heading through two sets of doors and down a red carpet - someone had obviously tried to make the evening appear more classy than it actually was - she arrived in the main area of the studio where the party was being held. The room had low levels of lighting, a bar in a corner and a large television showing the finished production of "Meek Men". Glancing around Charlotte took in where everybody was, and spotted Chibs perching on the edge of a folded up table with a dark haired and a light haired woman hanging around him.

Just as she was about to walk up to him, Ima, a slim porn actress with strawberry blonde hair and a blue one shoulder dress, stepped in front of her.

"Sorry, sugar, this is an invitation only party," the woman sneered, "The men have more than they can handle for tonight."

"These," Charlotte replied, pointing to her in flight crow tattoos on her chest, "Are my fucking invitations."

"Hey," Jax greeted as he approached the two women.

"Sorry Jax, I told her it was an invitation only party," Ima pouted.

Jax looked at Ima and frowned in confusion. Then, he slung an arm around Charlotte's shoulders, and she couldn't help but notice the flash of jealously that passed Ima's face.

"No trouble, Ima, this is Charlie, my sister."

"Oh! Your sister!" Ima smiled and held out her hand. "I'm Ima, it's so nice to meet you," she gushed.

Charlotte took her hand and squeezed it tight.

"What's your last name? 'Stuck Up Bitch'?"

"Hey," Jax warned, "Play nice."

Charlotte rolled her eyes and ducked out of Jax's hold, heading towards Chibs. He'd seen Charlotte with Jax and had sent one of the women away, so that now he was only with one. One was much easier to talk his way out of then two.

"Charlie!" He said in fake surprise, "Didn't think you were comin' tonight, darlin',?"

"Yeah, I see that," she replied, giving the one remaining woman with dark hair a glare before walking away to get a drink.

"Who's that?" The dark haired woman asked with slight disgust.

"The Ol' Lady," Chibs replied with a sigh, watching as Charlotte took the empty seat in between Opie and the bar.

"Hey, what're you doin' here?" Opie asked as Charlotte sat next to him and ordered a drink from the bartender.

"You know me, Ope, always up for a porn party," she sarcastically replied, toasting her plastic cup with his and taking a long drink. Opie frowned, looking over his shoulder at Chibs who was sitting on a sofa with another woman, then looked back to Charlotte.

"Is something going on with you two?"

"No, why, has he said anything?"

"No it's just...Usually you two are all over each other."

Charlotte sighed, "I guess the honeymoon period's over, Ope," she replied, looking down into her cup as she swirled the contents.

"What?" He asked in disbelief. "He's with another woman, Charlie, go over there, say something to him - to her."

"The truth is Opie, I don't know what to say that won't lead us into another argument."

"Do you have any idea how stupid you sound right now?"

"What do you mean?"

"There's no point in spending your time mad at each. Enjoy each other before it's too late.

With the distant look in his eyes, Charlotte knew he was thinking about Donna.

Opie gave her the smallest glimmer of a smile.

"Just go over there."

Charlotte nodded, finishing off her drink and sat it on the edge of the bar, making a beeline to the sofa against the wall where Chibs was sitting with another woman.

As she got closer a man with a closely shaved head stepped in her way, twirling an unlit cigarette in between his fingers.

"Got a light?"

"Oh my god, Jonny, what are you doing here?" Charlotte asked her old school friend in utter surprise, not at all missing the look that Chibs was throwing her way.

"Did some photography work for Luanne on this shoot," he shrugged casually, gaining a light from a passing actress.

Charlotte and Jonny spent a few minutes catching up and by the time Jonny was pulled away by another colleague, Chibs had disappeared from his spot on the sofa. Doing a quick circuit of the room she couldn't find him, and with her not feeling any better she decided to call it a night.

At the exit door she met Jonny again where he insited on walking her back to her car.

"I'll give you a call tommorrow sometime, that ok?" Jonny asked, right before Chibs appeared out of nowhere and punched him on the nose, sending him sprawling on his back on the hood of Charlotte's car.

"What the hell are you doing?" Charlotte shouted as Chibs grabbed Jonny around the collar and slammed him on the hood again. Jonny howled in pain and clutched at his bleeding nose. Charlotte grabbed at Chibs' arm to get him off her old friend, and eventually Chibs pulled him up only to throw him down to the ground.

"The hell do you think you're doin' with my woman?" He growled, boot pushed down on the younger man's chest.

"Your what?" Jonny spluttered in a dazed and confused state of mind.

Charlotte positioned herself in front of Chibs and laid her hands on his shoulders, pushing to make him step back.

"I thought Sam Crow didn't do _mindless _violence!" She hissed.

Chibs rolled his shoulder with force and pushed her away from him, pointing a finger at her.

"Shut up!"

At his outburst she slapped his hand away from her and their angry eyes locked eyes for a few seconds. Hers were challenging him to respond and his were challenging to try that again.

He closed the small gap between them, standing toe to toe with her.

"You have any idea how fuckin' stupid this is makin' me look?"

Charlotte scoffed and pushed around him, walking over to Jonny who was leaning against her car hand covering his bloody nose.

"I'm fuckin' talkin' to you!" He snapped, grabbing her upper arm.

"You better check who you're talking to. I'm not one of those girls in there and don't you ever forget it!" She yelled, her free arm gesturing wildly to the Caracara studios housing Crow-Eaters and Porn Stars.

The door to the warehouse swung open and Bobby stepped out cautiously. He'd popped to the bathroom and heard raised voices trough the cracked open window in there. When he recognised the Scotish male accent versus the predominantly English female accent he headed outside immediately. He'd never seen any animosity from either of those two directed at each other before and if he was completely honest, it unnerved him a little.

From where Bobby was standing he could see a young guy with a bloody nose and the way he was half cowering, half hiding behind Charlotte told him that he was the reason something had kicked off.

"You're impossible!" Chibs blurted, running both hands through his longer hair then fisting it, pacing in a very small tight circle. He so badly wanted to punch something or someone - and that schmuck standing behind Charlotte looked like a good target to hit again, but she kept her stance, effectively blocking him from this friend of hers.

"Then just walk away from me."

As soon as the words left her mouth Charlotte wondered where they had come from. She didn't mean it - at all - but she was mad at him for always leaving her. Mad at herself for questioning their relationship. Mad at Jonny for stirring shit up again and getting blood on her car. Mad at Bobby for standing there like a spare guest at a wedding and just gawping at them.

Chibs' world went silent as he stood on the spot for several seconds wondering what the fuck had just happened there.

When he saw a tear roll down her cheek he reached out for her hand.

"You know I could never do that, love..." he whispered.

"I know," she replied, agreeing with him.

She pulled her hand away from his and wiped the tear away from her cheek.

"I'm going home."

And with that she got in her car and sped out the parking lot, leaving Jonny and his bloody nose to the merciless hands of Chibs.

"Fuck you lookin' at?" Chibs snarled.

Bobby jogged over and placed a hand on Chibs' shoulder, easing him back of the poor guy.

"You need to leave," Bobby told Jonny, "Like _now_, kid."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three - One Good Man**  
.com/watch?v=yIHgZHDJlZY

Disclaimer: I do not own Son of Anarchy.

**:*****:**

Charlotte stirred two sugars into Chibs' black coffee and along with her own took it upstairs, carefully balancing a cup in each hand as she manoeuvred the stairs.

As she reached the bedroom doorway she saw that he was awake in bed, propped up on a pillow. As she walked over to the night stand to place his drink, events from last night entered her mind.

_"Whoa, whoa, where you goin'?" Chibs asked as Charlotte climbed off him. They'd finally got some alone time that evening and what they had started on the sofa downstairs was now being finished - or at least Chibs was trying to finish it - in the bedroom._

Charlotte crossed the room to near the door and suddenly the room was enveloped in darkness. Feeling much better now the lights were off she climbed back onto the bed and back to her previous spot in Chibs' lap. 

"Thanks," he replied minimalistically.

Charlotte gave him a light smile but couldn't look directly at him.

_"Ow!" Chibs yelped and Charlotte froze._

"What?" She asked, placing her hands on his shoulders gently.

"You just," he wheezed, bowing his head and leaning forward slightly so his forehead rested on her shoulder, "...right in the balls!" he mumbled.

"Oh shit!" She breathed, hand covering her mouth as she scooted off him to give him space. "I didn't break anything did I?"

"I think I'm still working."

"When will you be back?" She asked, sitting tentatively on the edge of the bed beside him.

"Not sure," he shrugged, leaving his answer at that. He remained in his position propped up on a pillow and watched her, trying to gauge how she was feeling about last night.

_Chibs ceased his movements when he noticed that she was just lying there, motionless._

"You okay?" He asked, a frown marring his face.

"Yeah, course."

She responded with a small smile before leaning forward and planting her lips on his, moving her hips forward against his as a silent go ahead for him to continue.

"What's the run for?" Charlotte sat on the edge of the armchair on her sofa, watching him put on his cut. As he stood before her, her hand reached out and her fingers toyed with the silver cross that was ever present round his neck.

"Blood drive for kids."

His hand captured hers, forcing her to look him in the eyes.

"We okay?" He asked.

_The spark wasn't there for her that night. She was trying so hard to just let herself go and feel him. Was there something missing? Or something getting in her way?_

"You're not into this are you?" He asked, and it was only then she noticed that he'd pulled out of her.

"No! I am, I just...have a headache," she feebly lied, giving him the oldest trick in the book. The look on his face told her he didn't believe her which made her heart sink into her stomach.

"Right," he simply said, getting off the bed and pulling his jeans on, biting his tongue because he knew whatever else he said would end up in yet another argument. Charlotte remained frigid under the covers, eyes trained on a non-existent mark on the wall.

"'Course," she lied again, scratching her now healed wrist.

He half smiled, satisfied with her answer for now and leant down to kiss her lips softly.

"Be careful," she ordered.

"Yeah."

The way Chibs had looked at her as he left she knew he didn't believe her and she also knew that that night when Sam Crow stayed over he would fuck the first girl who showed any interest. And why should she even blame him for doing so? She wasn't giving it to him, and when she was she was injuring his most sensitive body parts or just lying there like a blow up doll.

_I'm the worst girlfriend ever._

Charlotte sunk to the floor in a fit of tears, only contemplating getting up when Madison started fussing and whining over her.

She went to her bag, looking inside for some Percocet she was sure she had left over from her first prescription. Charlotte found the white bottle but it was empty.

"Shit!" She cursed, throwing the empty bottle onto the floor, raking her hands through her hair watching the bottle roll across the beige carpet onto the lino in the kitchen gently going to a stop.

Hand over her mouth she wondered if she had any tablets left, and if she didn't, where she would get some more from, besides Doctor Green. A thought entered her mind and she took off up the stairs to the bathroom, ransacking her medical cabinet, relieved when she found a bottle that still had some tablets left.

**:*****:  
**  
The Percocet had calmed her down considerably. In fact, it had calmed her down a little too much and she had ended up 15 minutes late for her dentist appointment.

At least as she lay on her back in the white dentist chair she felt calm.

"Are you taking any medication?" Her dentist asked.

"Nope."

"You were taking Percocet a few weeks ago?"

"I finished my course."

A few minutes later after the dentist had finished prodding, poking and scraping Charlotte was inhaling novocaine as she had a filling re-done.

_This is fan-fucking-tastic!_

She started giggling uncontrollably and the dentist backed up a little.

"Okay, let me turn this down a little."

When the treatment was done Charlotte sat in the reception area to let the Novocaine wear off, staring at the plant in the corner as it started to grow a pair eyes and in that instant she realised that she needed to stop taking her remaining pills.

_What the hell am I doing?_

Her head dropped forward into her hands and she shook her head, trying to get the hallucination of the living cactus out of her mind. Rummaging through her bag she got her phone and called the garage.

"Yeah?" Gemma answered the office phone.

"Gemma! I'm at the dentshit - dentist - I need a lift, can-" she slurred.

"Hold on," Gemma cut her off and slammed the phone down on her.

"Hello?"

Charlotte pulled a face and rang Piney. Straight to voicemail. She rolled her eyes; the old man probably didn't even know how to turn on his phone.

She could've waited to call Gemma back but the plant was growing legs and she knew she had to get out of there fast. After ringing everyone in her phone book the one person who came to her rescue was Jonny Whitman, of all people.

He drove her back home in his car and she sat in the passenger seat where she started sitting upright but was now heavily leaning towards him in an umcomfortable looking slant.

"You're so good to me, Jonny," she gave him a lobsided smile and her eyelids were droopy.

"Are you okay? Did they give you too much novocaine? You look a little bit spaced."

She sat still, staring at his dragon novelty figurine bouncing around with the movement of the car on his dashboard.

"Is there a small green dragon with a big head bobbing up and down on your dashboard?"

"Urr, yeah."

"Then I'm okay."

Jonny helped her into her house, telling her to relax on the sofa for a little bit. Before she could make it to the sofa Charlotte ran into the kitchen and threw up in the kitchen sink. Jonny grabbed her hair and pulled it back from her face as she threw up even more.

"Gemma?" Charlotte asked, voice slightly muffled by the fact her head was still in the sink.

"No, it's Jonny."

"Where's Jax?" She queried, looking up at him.

He frowned and shook his head, letting go of Charlotte's hair and the two stood in silence for a few seconds.

"Nobody loves me," she mumbled, walking back into the living room where she practically fell onto the sofa, face planted in the cushions.

"Wake me when Chibs comes back," she mumbled.

Jonny stood in the kitchen, not sure what to do since she seemed to have taken an adverse reaction to the novocaine and he didn't want her to be sick again. Then again, she was face down so if she was sick it would dribble onto the floor. Her fat dog was pushing her empty food bowl towards him with her nose. He sneezed, his allergies playing up on him.

_I'm outta here._

****

The swap meet didn't have as big as turn out as expected, and if he was honest Chibs was glad. A lot of local charters they were friendly with had turned up too, and he wasn't in the mood to do the old "Meet and Greet" routine for too many people right now.

Thinking back to the "shit kickin'" they did earlier, as Jax had put it, sitting on the back of the truck and ramming into the motel room had undoubtedly been the highlight of his day and put a smirk on his face when he remembered the looks on the Bounty Hunter's' faces. Now, in some down time a lot entered his mind; Jimmy O was coming state side, he and Charlotte were undoubtedly having issues and Jax and Clay were in a power struggle now more than ever.

A trio of girls approached their table, two blondes and a raven head.

"Hey darlin'," he greeted, instantly taking a liking to, and catching the darker haired womans eyes, pushing a chair out for her with a nudge of his foot.

"Hey," she replied, taking the seat next to him as her blonde companions were snatched up by Happy and Half Sack.

Chibs rolled his eyes. Maybe he was getting older, but when he was Prospecting and attended swap meets he always had a bucket of water in one hand and a sponge in the other cleaning bikes. Now, the kid had one hand around a beer bottle and the other on a woman's ass.

_How times change._

"Kayleigh," the woman introduced herself.

"Sorry, love?" He asked, turning back to her.

"Kayleigh," she repeated with a friendly smile, pushing her hair behind her ears.

"Chibs."

His eyes focussed in on the swell of her breasts. She noticed and she moved her arms to push them up more.

"How about I get us some beers?" Kayleigh asked, already standing from her seat so her crotch was level with his face. As he walked away Chibs checked out the way her ass swayed from side to side in her tight jeans.

Kayleigh was a good looking woman and she was blessed with a good figure to match. It was easily weeks since he and Charlotte had had sex that didn't end up in an argument, injured gentalia or her lying so still it was like he was fucking a wooden log.

Chibs pulled a cigarette form his packet, placing it in between his teeth and fishing for his lighter as he headed to the bathroom. He was going to take a piss, smoke his cigarette, knock back a few beers and a few shots and see where things between him and Kayleigh landed. At the very least he'd get his dick sucked.

Heading back to Sam Crow's table, Jax joined Chibs' side, flipping his phone shut from a call he just made.

"What's up Jackie-Boy?"

"Just checkin' up on the kid."

Jax didn't miss the slight pause in his step that Chibs had at the mention of Abel.

"Somethin' up?"

Chibs shook his head, pulling hard on his cigarette. He hadn't spoken to Charlotte since he left that morning. The first time he thought about calling her was just this second. As he looked to their table and saw Kayleigh waiting there for him, he started to doubt whether it was worth hanging on to whatever was left with Charlotte. He didn't expect things to be perfect between them, but he didn't want to keep seeing that look of disappointment and loneliness on her face whenever he walked out the door. Something wasn't connecting between them like it had. Something had to change.

***


	4. Chapter 4

**thoChapter Four - Nobody But You**  
.com/watch?v=3CfPexJFe8o

Notes: Contains strong racial slurs

*******

"Mornin'!" Charlotte called to everybody in the kitchen as she entered through the back door, Maddison in tow.

"What's wrong with the front door?" Jax asked.

"I was snooping around the garage, hoping to find something useful," she countered jovially, crossing her arms and leaning back against the door jamb.

"And did you?"

"Surprisingly, no. I can't do a lot with rusty gym equipment and old Playboy magazines," she fisted her hand and made a crude motion. Jax mouthed 'fuck you' to her.

Charlotte turned her head slightly and glanced at Tara, then did a full sweep of the room and it's occupants.

"Where's Abel?" She asked.

"We sold him for some magic beans," Jax replied smartly.

"Yeah? Well I hope these magic beans give you a sense of humour."

Charlotte pushed herself from the doorway and headed to the bathroom. As she passed Jax he grabbed hold of her bra strap and pinged it against her skin; something he hadn't done since high school.

"Son of a Bitch!"

"Thanks very much," Gemma replied.

"Sorry!" Charlotte called, walking backwards through the living room and sticking her tongue out to Jax.

Chibs stuffed the majority of his oat cake in his mouth and glanced at Charlotte's ever disappearing figure as she walked out of sight. Things were patchy between them since the wrap party to say the least, and the only recent interaction they had was the day before when he stole some oatcakes from her fridge whilst she was having a shower. Sex was a distant memory and when it did happen it was awkward and they constantly bickered about each other's social lives.

"We better get goin' Jackie-boy, Clay's waitin'," Chibs said around a mouthful of food, turning the direction of the conversation from Jax's box of smelly clothes.

As Jax leant over to pick up a box, Chibs stood behind him and squeezed his hip.

Jax jerked and stood up straight.

"Remembering breakfast with Daddy?"

"Oh yeah. Kippers and Oatcakes, delicious."

"Where'd you get that Oatcake from, anyway?" Jax asked, nodding to the small bar Chibs held in his hand.

"Charlie made 'em. She finally figured out to cook and not just burn shit."

"Oh snap!" Jax laughed.

"Later kids!" Chibs called over his shoulder, making a speedy getaway with the box in his hands, and he left with Jax out the front door.

"Shoot, I gotta get moving for my shift at the hospital."

Tara exited the room too after checking the clock on the wall.

As Charlotte returned from the bathroom she grabbed a cup of coffee and sat opposite Gemma who was flicking through a magazine.

"Mickey Rourke, hot or not?" Gemma questioned, "He was cute in the 80s but then all that facial surgery..."

Charlotte forced a smile.

"You okay, baby? You look like shit," Gemma asked.

"I'm fine, it's just...hard."

Gemma tapped her white porcelain mug with a manicured fingernail, tongue brushing the inside of her cheek.

"This got something to do with you, your Scotty and the pink elephant in the room?"

Charlotte flinched. "Noticed that, huh?"

"Noticed it? It near enough leant over the table and slapped me round the goddamn face. What's goin' on with you two?"

"It's just hard to spend time together," Charlotte sighed.

"Is that it - 'It's hard'? When did you become such a pussy? You tell him a place and time to see you, and if he doesn't show up you keep your god damn legs closed till he makes it up to you. You understand?"

Gemma ended her charming pep talk with a slug of coffee, slamming the mug on the table before walking round to Charlotte and kissing the top of her head.

"I'll see you later, baby, I got shit to do."

**:*****:**

"You want us outside?" Jax asked Clay.

"If you don't mind," he replied sarcastically before walking into Impeccable Smokes.

"Yeah," Jax mumbled, readjusting his reaper hat and sitting on his bike.

Chibs whistled to get his VP's attention, throwing a pack of smokes that hit the blonde in the chest. Jax took one, and the two sat on their bikes smoking their cigarette until a phone rang.

"Ain't me," Jax declared, patting down his jeans.

Chibs frowned, not expecting a call and not keen on having to ram his hands in his jeans pockets to fish out his phone when he'd been perfectly comfortable in his seat.

"Yeah?" He answered without checking the display.

"Hey, it's me," Charlotte gave a slight pause; long enough so he would register her voice, not long enough for him to respond. From where she was standing at the counter in the store, she leant forward slightly, peering out the window at the line of bikes across the street. "I know you're busy now, but what about later?"

"Urr," Chibs stalled. He didn't lead the kind of lifestyle where he could make plans; Most of the time he lived day-to-day. "Sure." He finally answered.

"Good," Charlotte smiled, "Dinner at 6, my house."

"Shit, I can't. Got Church at 5," he suddenly remembered.

"Oh," Charlotte frowned, disappointed. She ran her finger on top of the cardboard box in front of her, making marks in the thin layer of dust. "Just come by after Church, I can wait."

"Yeah, I'm, urr..." he drawled in a way that made it obvious he wasn't committing to anything.

The door to the cigar shop pinged and Clay exited.

"I gotta go, I'll call ya."

"Why do I bother?" She asked herself.

****

_Sally's Steakhouse_ was right on the outskirts of Charming, the last building out of town and the first building tourists and residents saw when they entered the town from the West. The food and drink were overpriced for what quality it was, but the booths were large and comfortable and you could always get a little bit rowdy without being told to quieten down.

After Chibs blew her off, Charlotte had a much appreicated telephone call from Kasey. They'd met at Sally's for an early diner right after Charlotte finished work at 5, and soon after were joined by Lexi and her boyfriend Albie, Uncer's nephew.

In the parking lot after their dinner, Charlotte and Lexi swapped cars. Lexi had a Mercedes two seater convertible but needed Charlotte's larger Lexus to visit her parents in Tahoe.

Charlotte left in the MErcedes with Kasey, while Lexi and Albie got into Charlotte's Lexus. As she was about to reverse out the parking space she noticed someone had stuck a flyer to the back windscreen under the wiper and she couldn't see.

"I'll get it," Albie offered, and exited the car while Lexi reapplied her lip balm. She turned around in her seat to see where Albie was but she couldn't see him. Opening the door a little she called his name. She heard a muffled response, and just as she was about to get out the car and see where he was, the door was pulled open and she was unceremoniusly yanked out of the seat and dragged round to the back of the car. Albie was on the ground, writhing in pain from a stab wound to his thigh, blood quickly changing the colour of his denim jeans.

"Albie!" Lexi screeched.

"Shut up!" a man with a white mask appeared at the side of her, shoving her roughly to the ground. Lexi landed in front of him on her knees, the tiny stones from the gravel marring her skin.

"Where is she?" Another white masked man came into view, and spoke to his accomplice.

"Here."

The man nudged Lexi with his boot.

"You idiot!" The man spoke with a deep almost gravelly voice. He held a knife in his hands, blood staining the otherwise gleaming steel, a gun with a silencer was placed in the waistband of his jeans, easily visible. "This blonde bimbo isn't Charlotte! You said you were watching the cars."

"I did - I was - Ii just stepped away for two minutes to take a leak."

"Just stop talking, enough bullshit."

Lexi's breath hitched and she started to cry. Albie was trying to crawl back to the car that was still running, to get a phone and call for help.

"What do we do now?"

"Kill 'em. Kill the blonde nigger-cock loving whore and the coon too."

Lexi screeched for Albie, but one of the masked men pinned her down to the floor, boot on the back of her neck, forcing her head roughly onto the gravelled parking lot ground. She heard a scuffle, Albie shouting and begging for his life, a trio din of soft pops, then nothing. Nothing apart from the sound of her own heart beating rapidly in her own ears.

She was yanked onto her feet again, only to then be punched back down to the floor. One of them kicked her in the ribs whlst the other one kicked her in between the legs.

One of the men took off his mask and grabbed a handful of her hair.

Lexi shook her head, "No. Please, please," she begged, pulling at his arm as his fee hand gripped tightly around her throat. She was surprised when he removed his hand, only screaming again as he bought out his already bloody knife. The pain that seared across her throat was unbearable. The first cut was quick and shallow and she almost ddn't feel it, her body felt numb. The second cut he made was slow but deeper and she could feel her chest getting wet as the blood poured out of her throat and down her body.

He let her go and stood, watching her choke.

"That's what you deserve for screwing around with an inferior race," he sneered than spat on her arm.

Lexi pulled her hands away form her throat, amazed at how much blood was in her body. She felt herself go lightheaded and she wondered why she wasn't dead yet, prayed to any God listening to hurry up and take her because the pain was so unbearable.

From the corner of her eye she could see Albie being propped up against the front end of their car, worn rope was tied around each wrist then fed through the grill on the front of the car.

She managed to keep her eyes open long enough for her to watch the two attackers get in their car, with Albie tied to the front and drive away. His legs were unaturally bent backwards as the men rove round the parking lot a few times. They then cut him loose.

The last thing Lexi ever saw was her murderer, standing over her to drop a white envelope onto her body.

"You need to deliver a message."

***

Almost home, Charlotte realised she'd left her jacket at the Steakhouse.

"Shit!" She cursed, pulling a u-turn.

"Just get it tommorrow," Kasey offered.

"It had money in the pocket, if I go tomorow it won't be there."

The headlights of the car instantly picked up the body of a blonde, lying on the floor near Charlotte's Lexus, the engine still running.

"Oh my god," Kasey said, face paling instantly.

"Stay here. Call an ambulance." Charlotte took the gun from her bag and went to Lexi, lying in a pool of her own blood.

Charlotte pressed her hand against Lexi's throat trying in vain to find a pulse but by the grey-ash tone of her friend's skin she already knew her fate was sealed.

"Lexi!" Charlotte whispered shaking her. "Lexi?" She repeated.

Noticing a white envelope she picked it up, brows furrowing in confusion when she saw the name "Sam Crow" written on the front. She ripped it open anyway and pulled out the paper that read: _Stop dealing guns to colours. Charlotte won't be the last one. _

Charlotte choked on her tears as she realised that whoever did this had meant it to be her. Her car, still with the engine running, was a clear sign that it had been a case of mistaken identity. If they hadn't switched cars, it would be Charlotte lying dead on the floor. She stood quickly holding her gun and looked aorund the parking lot, to see if the attackers were still there.

Kasey screamed and gagged on her own sick. She had stepped out the car to get a better signal and dial for an ambulance, even though she knew it was too late. She had stumbled across the horrifically mangled body of Albie.

The police arrived a couple of minutes after the ambulance. Charlotte and Kasey were sitting in the back, legs dangling over the edge wrapped in thick blue fleece blankets, watching the paramedics put Albie and Lexi's bodies into black bags marked Coroner.

As soon as Uncer's car was parked, he was out of his vehicle and jogging towards his nephew's body bag.

"Albie!" He cried. "Jesus Christ, no!"

It was Hale who took the Chief by the arm, standing him upright and leading him back to his cruiser.

"This is your fault," Kasey said out of nowhere.

"My fault?" Charlotte questioned.

"Murders like this don't happen in Charming unless it's something to do with Sam Crow."

"Sam Crow don't kill _innocents_."

"No, but they sure as hell know who did this. It's their fault. It's _your _fault."

"Who the hell do you think you are? I've saved your ass on more than one occassion - the _Club_ has saved you, too."

"That's no excuse," Kasey huffed, wrapping the blanket around her tighter and storming away.

"Charlotte, are you okay?" Hale asked her, suddenly appearing at her side. "I'm so sorry about your friends. Do you need a ride anywhere?" He offered when she didn't respond.

"I'll call."

She manouvered her hands out of the blanket, surpried as Hale was when her gun dropped to the floor.

"Let's pretend that didn't happen." Charlotte bent down and picked it up placing it back in her bag and dug out her phone.

Hale's radio made a large crackling sound, and he told dispatch to go ahead.

"Reports of a 10-80 at Teller-Morrow Automotive. All available units respond to a 10-80 at Teller-Morrow Auomotive. Ambulance dispatched."

"What's a 10-80?" Charlotte looked to Hale with wide eyes.

Hale confirmed to dispatch he was on his way, then turned to Charlotte.

"It's an explosion."

"You did what?" Zobelle asked, hoping he had misheard Weston.

"We killed the blonde and the nigger. They switched cars, Charlotte wasn't there."

"You _killed _them? Do you know who Albert Cousans is?"

"Should I?"

"He is the nephew of Police Chief Wayne Uncer. He may not be on our side, he may not be a favourite but he is still a member of authority and killing his family members because you made a _mistake_ does not sit right with me. At all, Weston."

Zobelle glared at Weston, who hung his head.

"Where did you bury the bodies?"

"We didn't," Weston remained looking at the ground, "There wasn't any time-"

"Time? There's always _time_ to cover your tracks. This Cowboy and Indian adventure of yours will set us back."

"He's black, what does it matter? I helped the cause-"

"You have one chance to redeem yourself, Weston. If this blows back at us, I am throwing you under the goddamn bus."

Charlotte sat on a bench in the Accident and Emergency centre at St Thomas, not at all surprised she got there faster than the ambulance. She didn't know what had happened or who had been injured, but she knew she just had to be there when whoever it was was wheeled in. An explosion could mean anything. It could be the gas tanks - maybe Gemma had been in the office and she'd been badly burnt, or one of the non-patched mechanics had gotten a hit. It could also mean that a placed and set bomb had gone off in the Clubhouse, seriously injuring one of the guys.

The ambulance pulled up in the bay outside and she grew increasingly worried when someone was bought out on a stretcher. She could see a pair of jeans and the familiar cut, an oxygen mask covered their face and it was only when they were bought inside that she realised it was Chibs.

"Oh Jesus," she breathed, "Is he dead?"

She tried to get closer but a trio of nurses moved her out the way.

"We need to move, now!" One of the nurses shouted, and Chibs was wheeled into a lift. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five - Then Came the Last Days of May  
**  
Jax didn't find her in Chibs' room, nor in the Cafe, but in the hospital courtyard, a small square outdoor section meant for patients to get some fresh air, although in reality it had turned into a smokers den.

He sat down next to her on the bench, the old wood creaking under his weight. She didn't acknowledge him, just continued puffing on her cigarette and he didn't offer any words as he lit up his own.

"I used to think you were all invincible. When my Dad died, your cuts were like capes that superheroes wear. You saved me. I got it then, I still get it now. But this?" She finally turned to him and shook her head in disbelief, "Nobody's ever been hurt like this before."

Jax looked into her glassy eyes and chewed on his bottom lip, pulling her to him and wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

"Remember I had that book at Donna's funeral?" He paused, to let her remember what he was referring to, "I gotta show you something," he said with a nod of his head, indicating they needed to leave.

"What if he wakes up?"

"Then we'll come straight back."

He rubbed his hands up an down her arms and she silently nodded.

****

As soon as Jax had given her the leatherbound book she had returned to the hospital, sitting in Chibs' room and had flicked through it, reading odd passages here and there that John Teller had written. From what she had read it seemed that the MC hadn't always been about running guns and taking control of territories. In the early stages it had been about a brotherhood - much like it still was, but with every turn of a page there was more blood, more violence, more deceit and by the end of the script John appeared not to trust anyone, not his family, his friends and not even himself.

****

"Hey, babe."

Jax kissed Tara on her lips before placing a hand on the small of her back, where her tattoo was.

"Hey," she smiled at him.

"Saw Charlotte's car outside - how long she been here?" He asked, face pulled into a frown. Charlotte had been spending every waking hour at the hospital when she wasn't at work. Whilst he understood her need to be there, he and Gemma were growing increasingly worried she was getting to an unhealthy state of mind. She wasn't resting or eating properly.

"Pretty much all day," Tara said softly.

"Any news?"

Tara shook her head.

She kissed him quickly before walking to the locker room and exchanging her white coat for her black jacket, running a brush quickly through her hair and applying her vanilla lip balm.

On her way back to Jax, Tara took a quick detour to Chibs' room, entering quietly when she spotted Charlotte staring out the window, arms wrapped around herself, staring out into the dark night sky. She did that often.

"Hey," Tara said softly.

"Hi," Charlotte replied in a whisper, wiping a tear from her cheek.

Tara walked over and placed her hand on Charlotte's shoulder in a comforting gesture.

"There's a small part of me that thinks he'll never wake up," Charlotte confessed, looking at Tara's reflection against the navy sky in the window.

"Don't think like that."

Charlotte tentatively looked back over her shoulder at Chibs before speaking again.

"We were having...problems," she confessed.

"Everybody does, Charlotte. It's not your problems that matter, it's how you deal with them."

Tara's body involuntarily shuddered at the memory of Kohn lying dead in a pool of his blood on the tiles of her bathroom. Oh yeah, she realy 'dealt' with that problem.

"I'm scared that when he wakes up he'll tell me to leave."

Charlotte sniffled and wiped her nose on her sleeve.

"He'd never do that. He needs you. They all do."

Tara squeezed Charlotte's shoulder before speaking again, "Jax and I are leaving, you should come too. Get some rest."

Charlotte sighed dramatically then wordlessly picked up her handbag and stood by Chibs' bed. She ran the pad of her thumb delicately across one of his scars, saying something to him in such a low voice that Tara couldn't hear, and finally placed a soft kiss on his lips before leaving with Tara.

Jax walked out first, leading the two ladies out of the hospital. At the exit, Charlotte held her arm out and Tara stopped.

"Don't tell anyone what I told you up there. I mean it," Charlotte warned. Tara nodded. Another secret to keep.

****

In the stillness of the white and grey hospital room Chibs blinked, trying to focus his vision. Everything was blurry and Christ almighty did the back of his head still hurt. He looked down his body at the tell tale hospital gown, white blanket and tubes and IV lines stuck into his arms.

After a quick glance around the room he noticed that Charlotte wasn't there.

Nobody was.

_Fuck.  
_  
It suddenly occurred to him that somebody had unceremoniously shoved a tube up his nose and it was irritating the hell out of him. As he went about trying to pull the obstruction from his nasal passage, he didn't clock Charlotte entering his room.

Charlotte lightly gasped as she entered, both elated he was awake and angry that he was messing about with the hospital equipment. He was trying to wrestle with the tubes and wires he had everywhere. She dumped her already cold coffee on the small night stand and took hold of his hands in her own, stopping him from hurting himself, perching beside him on the bed.

"Charlie..." he whispered, looking up at her blurred face, not being able to say any more due to the pounding in his head and dryness in his throat. She had come. She was there with him that put everything that happened between in the past few weeks all forgotten.

"It's ok," she assured him whilst untangling the mess of tubes and wires he created, fixing his oxygen tube and placing it back into position in his nose gently.

He reached his hand up and feebly grasped her bare arm as she pressed the call alarm for the Doctor.

Charlotte took his hand, effectively sandwiching it between her own.

"I'm here, it's okay," she soothed.

With his free hand he reached out to touch her face, which was still predominately blurry to him. He was a little off and his middle finger clumsily collided with her top lip.

"Everythin's blurry," he confessed in a hurried whisper.

Charlotte leaned closer, rubbing the tip of her nose with his in an Eskimo-like kiss.

"That better, baby?"

"Charlie..." he whispered again before his eyelids fluttered. He was fighting to keep them open and he groaned in pain.

"Ssh, don't fight it, the Doctors coming," she promised, her lips moving against the pad of his finger before he let the fog consume his brain and he fell back into a deep sleep.

****

"I've been here two months longer than you!"

"That doesn't mean anything!"

"It means _everything_! You wipe the bar, I serve the drinks and get laid."

The blonde Crow Eater threw the dirty wash cloth at the skinny redhead, hitting her right in the face. The red head hit back - literally - with a slap round the other girls face.

"Stop that!" Tara shouted at them. She had walked in on the two girls in the Clubhouse after getting a vague text from Gemma to meet her there.

"Who asked you?" The blonde bitched.

"Yeah, you don't belong here," the red head snarled and the two Crow-eaters began going at each other again.

Tara stepped back, letting the words hurt her more than she liked.

As their argument turned into a downward spiral, the redhead lashed out and slapped the blonde around the cheek again.

"I think that's enough!" Tara stepped up to them and tried to break it up.

"I told you to stay out of this!"

"Hey!" Charlotte yelled, having just arrived, "Pack it in!"

"Did you see that? _She hit me!_ She's crazy! Fire her!" The blonde screeched at Charlotte, clutching her glowing red cheek.

"Shut up! You of all people don't tell me what to do!" Charlotte barked.

"Sorry," the blonde apologised.

"Get out. Club business."

Charlotte jerked her head towards the door behind her and the two girls hung their heads like they'd been caned by a school teacher. They threw Tara a look that made her feel even more out of place as she stepped aside to let them through.

"Drink?" Charlotte asked whilst walking behind the Bar to pour herself one. She promised herself she wouldn't taken a Percocet that day, but she still needed _something_ to take the edge off.

"No, thank you. And neither should you."

Tara looked down at her watch - barely 10am.

Charlotte frowned at her, making her way to the battered old couches in the corner of the room.

"Chibs is in hospital, Jax, Clay and virtually everybody I've ever cared about is in the Big House. Don't tell me I can't have a drink."

"I'm just worried about you. You're not sleeping, you're not eating properly and-"

"Yeah, well, when I end up in AA or an anorexic you'll be the first to know."

Charlotte raised her glass and downed a shot.

Tara took a breath to steady herself for what she was about to say.

"They all look up to you, Charlotte, more than I think you realise. If you start loosing it..." she trailed off not really sure how to finish that sentence.

From what Tara had observed in the past few months, Charlotte had exhibited on more than one occassion, in Gemma's abscene, that handling Club members and Club business was a second nature for her. Over the years, naturally, Charlotte had shadowed Gemma and had almost groomed herself to become the next Matriarch. The incident with the fighting girls was a prime example. Charlotte had ended it with a few choice words and those girls - who could easily have been older than her - had walked off like naughty school children. They respected her. The only way Tara would've been able to stop it was to have gotten physically involved, which is a fire Tara had been suppressing since she left Charming.

Tara was all or nothing, not yet being able to find the happy medium. And when it came to Charlotte she had a little bit of the green eyed monster.

When Gemma would no longer be in the picture Charlotte would be the Clubs' major support system. Tara watched the younger woman knock back a shot of liquor and prayed that she wouldn't throw it all away.

"Oh good, you're here already."

Gemma entered the Clubhouse noisily with Rosen immediately behind her.

"Let's get this shit started, kids." 


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six - Woman**

**Added a few scenes in this one. Thanks for your reviews. **

Fiona looked up at Charlotte and the two locked eyes for a second.

"This is a private room," Charlotte told her with the same amount of attitude she'd carried throughout her time as a teenager. No sooner had the words escaped her mouth that she actually figured out who the darker skinned lady was. She'd never seen Fiona before but had heard about her, mainly from Gemma; "She's one nasty, crazy Irish bitch. I don't trust her and I never will," were her exact words. Gemma didn't trust a lot of people right off the bat, so that was nothing uncommon. However, Fiona was interlinked with Jimmy O (romantically or otherwise - it didn't matter) and the Irishman cased everybody to stand on edge. Charlotte was equally curious, perturbed and vexed when it came to Chibs' wife.

"I know," Fiona replied, accent thick, dropping the magazine she'd already read through twice onto a small table. "Nice flowers," she snorted, referring to the bunch of flowers Charlotte had carried in and placed on the the bottom of the bed along with her purse. The flowers were from Charlotte's next door neighbour, Mrs. McKinney, a 72 year old God fearing widow who died her hair purple and blasted Led Zepplin throughout the house while she cleaned. She had fallen in love with Chibs when he helped her move some furniture around. He'd fallen in love with her when she made him shortbread biscuit as a thank you.

"Charlie, isn't it?"

Fiona didn't seem to stop talking, whereas Charlotte couldn't think of anything to say that didn't involve screeching, cursing or throwing a vase at the Irishwoman's head.

"Char_lotte_, actually," she replied with a cold tone.

"You're so young."

Fiona crossed her arms, looked her up and down and shook her head at the young woman in front of her.

"So? You were once," Charlotte snapped, realising too late it was a feeble response. She wanted to kick herself at how stupid she sounded, but the words seem to have gotten to Fiona more than she originally thought.

Fiona pushed the hair off her face and turned away, hands resting on the rail that supported the foot of Chibs' bed.

Charlotte was right, she had been young once. She had been in love once, too. Young, in love with Filip, and to boost she had that pregnancy 'glow' that people commented on wherever she went. With her youth also came naivety, foolishness and rash decisions that got her, and others, hurt.

"Staying long?" Charlotte sneered, then glanced outside, wondering if the allusive Jimmy O was standing outside the door, ready to pounce on her with a knife for talking smack to his girlfriend. She overheard pieces of conversations, saw looks that passed between members when they talked about Jimmy O or the IRA in the past and it wasn't hard to understand that Jimmy was the one who forced Chibs overstate, giving him his scars as a constant reminder as to where he stood in Jimmy's hierarchy.

"Just checking up on him. Carri'Ann was worried."

Fiona had a smirk on her face; she'd played the 'Daughter' card at the right time and she revelled in how it made Charlotte physically flinch.

"He's fine. Better than fine, he's great."

"Oh, yes I see that. Goes after a young piece of meat for an ego boost and then look what happens! You almost got him killed!" Fiona whispered harshly, trying to keep her voice down.

"So did you!" Charlotte countered, ghosting her fingers over her cheek. Fiona scoffed, going back to her seat and picking up the magazine again.

The door clicked open and Charlotte jumped at the sound more than she would've liked to. She was overly relieved to see Gemma enter.

****

Charlotte she sat on the edge of Chibs' hospital bed, pondering how to approach the subject of Fiona and all the baggage that came with the Irish bitch. Had he seen her, had she been there? Was Carri-Ann there, hiding? What about Jimmy O?

"Fiona was 'ere."

Charlotte blinked, not expecting that to come from Chibs so soon.

"I know. I saw her."

Chibs' eyes went wide. He never thought _he'd_ see Fiona again, let alone have her and Charlotte meet.

"How did that go for you?" He asked wearily.

Charlotte thought for a few seconds for the right response. "She's cold."

"She is, yeah," he agreed. She hadn't been once. She'd been funny, charming, kind, then everything changed and she changed with it. Cold. Heartless. Ruthless. Manipulative.

"Is Carri-Ann here?" Charlotte asked, bringing him away from his thoughts.

He exhaled sharply and shook his head from side to side.

"Jimmy?"

"Somewhere," he shrugged with one shoulder, then quickly added as an afterhtought, "You stay away from him."

"I know," she agreed, picking lint off his hospital gown.

"Hey, you get the insurance?" He suddenly remembered, turning his focus back to her, hand resting on her thigh.

"I can put you on my plan but," Charlotte hesitated, "it'll take three weeks for it to take effect. Red tape bullshit."

"Jesus," Chibs sighed.

"Sorry," she whispered, moving a loose strand of his hair away from his eye that had escaped his bandage, "I'll think of something."

"I know you will. I'm surprised you're here," he blurted.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"'Cause of...The way things have been going, y'know?"

"You want me to go?" Charlotte swallowed quickly, afraid bile would rise up in her throat if he asked her to leave. She thought back to Fiona and wondered what she had said to him.

He blinked at her, registering what she said.

"No," he replied adamantly, "Christ, I'm not giving up on this Charlie, we just need to figure some shit out."

Her daily visits to see him made him more acute to what he was missing while he was lying in that stupid bed all day and what he had waiting for him when he finally got discharged.

"You know what I figured out? You lying here all bandaged up scares the shit outta me."

"I'm not going anywhere, darlin'," he responded, squeezing her leg, "I'm not done with you yet."

********************

As Charlotte was driving to Gemma's house, it wasn't until Maddy started barking from the passenger seat that she took notice of the red and blue flashing light in her rear view mirror. She pulled over and saw Hale exit his green Police Jeep. Charlotte could almost always swerve her way out of tickets with Unser, or some of the younger uniformed police officers with a pretty smile and a flutter of her lashes, but with Hale she'd have to be a bit smarter. Or bite the bullet and pay up.

She sat up, checking her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes looked a little bloodshot, and her freshly applied make up was already starting to diminish.

Hale tapped on her window lightly and she pushed the button to make it wind down.

"Evenin' Charlotte."

"Hey Hale, how are you?" She asked as innocently and brightly as she could.

"You realise you were clocking 50 in a 30 zone?" He asked, bringing out his notepad.

"Sorry, Gemma's doing a dinner. I'm already late," Charlotte answered. It was a truth universally acknowledged that one is never late to a dinner of Gemma's, unless you're dying on the side of a road.

Hale shook his head slightly, not at all interested or bothered in what excuses she had for him right now. Beginning to write her a ticket, something made him look back up to Charlotte. She looked really tired, the bags under her eyes that she tried in vain to cover with make up showed, and she was slouching in her seat like she didn't have the energy to be sitting upright. He knew all too well that Chibs was still in the hospital, nobody knowing if there was any permanent damage at the moment, and one of her closest friends had just been horrifically murdered. All in all he felt sorry for her.

Her mouth was pulled down in a sad pout as she watched him writing her ticket. She didn't even have the energy to fight him on that.

Letting out a big sigh Hale tore the ticket off his pad and ripped it up in front of her. Pale yellow scraps of paper fell onto Main Street like snow that someone had pissed on.

"Do _not _let me catch you again, young lady," he jabbed her shoulder with his pen lightly, "I don't want to be the one who has to get Gemma or one of the guys to scrape you off the floor after you have an RTA. Understood?"

*****************

"You're late."

Charlotte was on Jax the second he appeared in his Gemma's kitchen, with Bobby in tow.

Jax inhaled sharply before speaking, "I know. What's the damage?"

"Lyla freaked and ran out the front. I burnt my elbow on the oven door. Neeta made ice cream but it hasn't frozen. Tara and Gemma had a fight."

"A fight? Physical?" Jax looked around, surveying the area for either his mum or his girlfriend and any broken ornaments. He knew she had a go at Lyla but then to tackle Gemma? His girl mst be going crazy.

"Unfortunately not."

Jax shot Charlotte a look.

"What? I'm joking. Bobby got it," she gestured to Bobby who was chuckling to himself.

"Let's just eat, man," the club Secretary prompted Jax to walk on with a hand on the VP's shoulder.

****

The guys were raising their voices one by one, vying to be heard over each other. At some point things had grown into physical contact with Tig and Bobby.

Their shouting made Maddy nervous and she started to bark constantly. As much as Charlotte tried to quiet her down, she wasn't having any luck. In the end she gave up, both on Maddy and on the noise, resorting to sticking her hands over her ears, trying in to block everything out.

"Somebody shut that damn dog up!" Clay yelled.

"Stop shouting at her like that!" Charlotte defended. Turns out her hand over the ears idea wasn't so effective.

"I'm not shouting at her, I'm shouting at you - shut it up!"

Clay's loud voice had made Maddy submissive and she laid down on the carpet, head between her paws, ears down around her chubby, furry face.

"Do you see what you're doing to this Club?" Clay turned his attention back to Jax. "Do you see what you're doing to this Club?" He repeated when he did't get an answer straight away.

Charlotte felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up indicating somebody was behind her. Everybody too felt the extra prescence in the room and turned to where Hale had silently appeared through the open back door.

"Sorry to interrupt," he started, looking around the room, having always wondering if Gemma's famous dinners always had the boys at each other's throats. He took another breath. He always liked to see Clay, Jax and the others squirm, make them pissed off at him, make them stand up and listen to the good guy, and even though what he was about to tell them would do this, it was at another person's expense. "We just found Luann Delaney off of County 18, beaten to death. I can't give you any more details at this time. I'm sorry."

As quickly as he had appeared, Hale left.

After the initial shock they all had of hearing of Luann's death, a silence fell on everybody. As soon as the quiet had reigned, it dissipated as Jax and Clay started up another argument. The noise continued until Gemma had enough and dropped the plate of roast beef onto the table, shards of china and meat littering the set table, collapsing into the nearby chair herself, totally exhausted.

A very uncomfortable silence filled the room and Charlotte was the first to leave without a word to anyone, only clicking her fingers so Maddy would follow out the back door. Nobody stopped her, and soon they all followed suit in dribs and drabs, leaving the house silently apart from when they started their Harley's up outside.

**********

"Hey."

"Hey," Jax returned, closing the back door and leant against Charlotte's kitchen counter, perusing the still unopened boxes. "Not unpacked yet?" He mused.

"Been a little busy round here lately if you haven't noticed. Coffee before we go?" She swirled the warm liquid in her coffee pot. Jax shook his head in answer, then removed his hat and sweeped his fingers through his hair. He'd just come back from Stockton and delivered the awful news to Otto. His sweatshirt stunk of prison.

"Rough night last night."

"Just last night? I'd go for a rough couple of weeks."

Jax smirked, "Yeah. Guess you're right."

Jax waited for her in the hallway while she fetched a light jacket and locked her back door. He eyed the copy of his Father's book on the coffee table and sneaked a quick look. She'd definately been reading it - there was even a red velvet bookmark in there.

_Bless her._

"Can you give us a minute?" Jax asked her when they exited the elevator in the hospital. Charlotte opened her mouth to protest - "It's Club Business," Jax reminded her.

"I'll grab some coffees."

Jax looked at her outstretched hand, rolled his eyes but dug into his jeans pocket and dug out a ten dollar bill for her. "You're unbelievable. And I wanna see change."

"Hey Charlotte?" The Prospect began, "Do you think you could get me a-"

"Nope!" She cut him off and jammed her finger against the elevator call button.

Before HalfSack was going to protest Jax grabbed his cut and pulled him into Chibs' room, and took a deep breath. He was about to download to the Scotsman on Luann and the Irish.

"Take a lap, kid," Chibs nudged.

No sooner had the Prospect left Chibs spoke again.

"Jax, if Jimmy sees Charlotte-"

"Relax, bro."

Chibs didn't take the words to heart and he still looked stressed out.

"I said, relax. That shit was a long time ago, he probably doesn't even remember. He won't know who she is anyway."

"Jimmy never forgets a face or a name_," _Chibs reminded the VP. He sighed heavily and looked up to the ceiling, "Jesus Jax, if he finds out she's Paul's daughter - it won't matter if she's Clay's daughter now - he'll kill her. He holds lifetime grudges. He'll fucking kill her."

"No, he won't," Jax clapped a hand on his friend's shoulder, "Jimmy O ain't that stupid. Killing the Prez's daughter?" Jax ran his thumb quickly across his throat. "He knows he'll loose all the Sons support. West Coast, Ireland, International. It's a fucking deal breaker."

Chibs gave a slight nod. Jax was right; He'd just been so worked up about Jimmy being stateside that his brain couldn't fathom any logic.

"Fi was here yesterday."

Jax's eyebrows shot to the sky.

Charlotte's heels clattered against the tiled floor of the corridor at St. Thomas and opened up the familiar room.

Nothing.

The bed was empty and freshly made with new crisp white sheets. There was that faint smell of pine disinfectant, the blinds were open, letting the sun shine through the window and the room was just waiting in silence and stillness for another patient.

"Excuse me," she stopped a passing nurse, dressed in lovely green and pink scrubs, "Where's Filip Telford?" She sounded almost panicked.

"He's been moved back to critical," the African-American lady told her, noticing Charlotte from previous visiting times when she'd just been standing there in his room, by herself, silent and looking out the window.

Before Charlotte could ask any more questions the nurse walked off around the corner from whence Tara appeared, looking down at notes on a clipboard.

"Tara!" Charlotte called, but Tara kept walking down the hallway, engrossed in her own thoughts and able to walk quicker than Charlotte with her flat white trainers.

"Tara!" Charlotte shouted louder finally catching up with her at the small reception located on that floor, grabbing the Doctor's shoulder and spinning her round.

"What the hell?" Charlotte breathed, "You said he was fine! When did he go back on critical? Why didn't you tell me?"

Tara, out the corner of her eye, saw Margaret Murphy in her grey suit staring at the two women, begging for Charlotte to fly off so she could file another report of some kind.

"Let's move this in here."

Tara led Charlotte quickly into a 'Family Room', shutting the door instantly, flicking the lock and releasing the blind to block the small window and avoid prying eyes.

"Chibs is fine," Tara started in her calm Doctor voice, easing her hands out in a soothing gesture, "I know he didn't want to be moved to Stockton, and the only way to keep him here was to get him back to critical. He's faking blindness in his right eye."

"You told him to do that?"

"I heavily hinted that something like that could happen given the severity of his blow, yes."

"Tara you could loose your job," Charlotte told her, like she didn't already know the severity of the risks involved.

Tara shrugged for lack of anything else to do. "Chibs is a good guy, I wanted to help."

Tara noticed the shift in Charlotte's eyes immediately. She went from angry and scared to relived and happy. As Charlotte hugged her and thanked her for her help, there was a small part of Tara that revelled in Charlotte's acceptance. Next to his son and his mother, Charlotte was the next closest person to Jax. Having a tick against her name from Charlotte relieved some weight off her shoulders that she didn't even know she'd been carrying.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven - Standing Next To Me**

**This chapter has an added Jimmy/Chibs scene. **

"Sons of...", Chibs muttered, grasping the hospital bed sheets and flinging them off the bed hoping to find his rings. When they didn't appear he growled and bent down looking under the bed. The damn hospital staff and done away with his gold Club rings! They'd all probably been melted down and reused as a grill in some wannabe gangster rapper dipshit's mouth.

_Thieving bastards!_The door behind him clicked open as he went to the small night stand wondering if they'd been stashed away in there. All he could see was a damn Gideon's bible and a magnifying glass. "What're you looking for?" Charlotte asked_, "_Jax has your cut, here's your rings," opening her closed hand at a little height over the bed and dropped all his rings onto the dishevelled sheets.

Who the hell needs a magnifying glass in hospital?

She grabbed a hair band from around her wrist, putting her hair up quickly into a messy bun - the hospital was either too hot or too cold, and today it was too warm for her, slight sweat already forming at the nape of her neck. As she lifted her arms up, Chibs' eyes went directly to her breasts and the way her movements pushed them together in her tight grey tank top.

He stalked around the bed, one arm wrapping around her shoulder and the other around her waist, "What the hell would I do without you?" He murmured against her lips, before he kissed her properly for the first time in too many days. Chibs manoeuvred her closer to the bed.

She took the obvious hint and sat on the edge, legs spreading for him and he walked in between them. Charlotte's right leg hooked around his waist, and his hand shot to her thigh, squeezing the flesh there. She shamelessly lifted her hips, grinding onto him, whilst he sucked hard at a spot on her neck that was going to give her an obvious hickey. If he was going to mark her, then he was going to _mark _her. Not leave her with a half-ass red mark that she could cover up easily.

One of his hands popped open the button on her jeans, followed by the sound of zipper which seemed to take forever. He moved his whole hand inside her underwear and cupped her; No if's, but's or maybe's, no questions, no look in the eye to seek permission. Charlotte grabbed his wrist to hold it in place as she could feel his finger start to move and she let out a small laugh as one of his digits inched it's way inside her.

"Hey, are you all ready to go?" Tara asked as she burst into the room, quickly blushing, apologising and averting her eyes as Chibs removed his hand and Charlotte buttoned up her jeans.

"I - um - I know you didn't want a wheelchair," the Doctor stumbled over her words as a nurse walked in with said wheelchair, "but it's hospital policy."

"S'alright," Chibs shrugged, "Not like I can walk properly right now anyway!" He winked at Tara whilst grabbing his crotch and adjusting himself to be even _slightly_ more comfortable then he was right now.

"Open the door for me, would ya love?" He asked the nurse. She did so and he pushed himself out the door and the three women heard him whizzing down the corridor, laughing to himself.

The nurse rolled her eyes in good spirits and walked out to attend to other patients.

"I know I've said this before," Charlotte stopped Tara at the doorway, "But, really, thank you for what you did. I'm sorry that Gemma - well, I know she did something, but you gotta see she did to save him, to protect him, to protect us. You risked your career and you stood up to Gemma, neither of which is easy."

Tara gave her a quizzical look. "What do you know about standing up to Gemma?"

"Oh, please, we may be like this," Charlotte held up her crossed fore and middle fingers, "But I ain't her friggin' lap dog. I know when to choose my battles. I've even won a couple of times." Charlotte winked and strutted down the corridor, drawing attention from and saying hello to a depressed looking young man who was in a wheelchair with a plastered leg. She looked a million miles from the weeping, insecure mess she had been when Chibs was unconscious. Really, Tara wondered what these Teller Morrow women were on, and could she get a slice of it.

Fiona had reached out to him - her voice on the phone telling him they 'needed to talk'. Chibs' first thought, his first hope, had that been maybe Carrianne had come over stateside with Fi. He would get to see his daughter, catch a glimpse of the young adult she was so fastly becoming.

By the time he had reached the bar, his hopes had turned into reality and he wasn't at all surprised to catch Jimmy in the corner of the room.

Chibs landed heavily on the booth seat opposite Jimmy, sitting with his legs crossed out in the aisle, turned to the side to avoid eye contact.

"Drink?" Jimmy greeted tapping the table for his own empty glass to be refilled by one of his mindless goons.

"No thanks, not stopping long," Chibs quipped.

"Suit yourself, like," Jimmy half mumbled. "You've done alright for yourself over here, brother," He continued, taking a sip of the drink so recently poured, placing his hands placidly in his lap.

Chibs blinked in response, staring at the dartboard.

"Now, who's that young lady of yours, Filip? Huh? Oh, what is her name?" Jimmy clicked his fingers, feigning a lost memory.

"She looks so familiar and I never forget a face. Maybe I knew her parents...Maybe her Da," he pushed.

Jimmy smirked when he saw something flash in Chibs' eyes. Something that resembled hatred, annoyance but above all - the one emotion that Jimmy would never get sick of seeing in others - fear. It seemed that his old Scottish friend, in their many years apart, had learnt to keep his anger in check, or at least keep it bubbling under the surface.

Now, that just wouldn't do.

Jimmy leant forward, placing his forearm flat on the table that seperated them.

"She's so young, Filip. I bet she was almost pure when you met her. I bet her pussy was as tight as a mouse's ear."

Chibs flinched and his top lip briefly curled into a snarl before he snapped his attention to Jimmy and glared at him.

"Are you done?"

Jimmy silently admonished himself. What was the point of him pussy footing around when he could go straight in for the kill, mention the one person in Jimmy's possession that meant he'd always have one up on Chibs.

"Have you seen any pictures of Carriane lately?"

* * *

"You what! Why?"

"Shit's not straight with me and Clay right now; It's bad for the Club," Jax explained. He rolled his shoulders back and squeezed the nape of his neck with a free hand, the other delving into his jeans pockets for his cigarette pack.

"And you running around the country on your own is going to make it better?" Charlotte crossed her arms in front of her, furious at the news that Jax wanted to go Nomad - even more furious that everybody else had lost their minds and voted 'yay' on the idea!

"Seems the right thing to do."

"What about Abel?"

"What _about_ Abel?" Jax repeated slowly, daring Charlotte to challenge him on his parenting skills.

"He needs you. He's growing and he's changing every day. You can't leave for weeks at a time-"

"It won't be _weeks_," Jax interrupted, "I'll be gone for a couple of days at a time, one week max. Like I told Tara, I just clock up extra miles on my bike."

Gemma stepped out of the office, flicking off the light. As she was locking the door she heard raised voices behind her. Turning around she put her sunglasses on her forehead and squinted against the light that was reflecting off the steel awning roof from the setting sun; Jax and Charlotte were standing near the benches, facing each other and voices raising louder and louder each time they spoke.

"If you go Nomad I'll never speak to you again!" Charlotte shouted. Immature, yes, but it delivered her point across.

"Jesus, Charlie, act your age," he huffed, "This wasn't an easy decision to make."

"I'm glad you've figured this all out Jax," she replied sarcastically, "Sounds like a great plan. Ride off into the middle of nowhere solo, get yourself killed and have Abel wind up an orphan."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He snapped.

"_Me_? What the hell is wrong with you! You're a bad father!" She poked him in the chest, the exact spot on his cut where his Vice President patch once was.

"You better check who you're talking to!" He retorted angrily, swiping her hand away from him.

"Don't touch me!" Charlotte bought both her hands against his chest and shoved him. Jax wavered back a little before shoving her shoulder with his hand.

"Should we do something?" HalfSack asked quietly from a few feet away.

"Best not to if we want to keep our balls," Juice replied, "Or, at least, what's left of them," he snickered, looking the other man up and down.

As Charlotte was about to push him back Gemma intervened, placing an outstretched hand in front of each of them.

"Knock it off! Jesus, how old are you two?" She looked back and forth at them, first at Jax; He had that pissed off and fed up look on his face that John also sported more often than not. Charlotte's normally bright eyes were dull and narrowed to such an extreme that Gemma wondered if she could see anything but red.

"Did you know about this?" Charlotte asked, gesturing to the patches that were in Jax's hand, even though she already suspected the answer.

"It's a Club decision," Gemma reasoned. Even though she wasn't best pleased that somehow everybody else had voted 'yay' for her only living son to go Nomad, this was a Club decision that she hadn't been able to sway.

Until now.

Gemma realised what she had to do. What she had to say. What she had to reveal.

To save the Club from being torn apart even more so. To save her son from the open road. To save her grandson growing up fatherless.

"You two come to my house. Now."

Jax and Charlotte both managed to peel their eyes from each other and turn to Gemma with a look of curiosity.

"I need to tell you something," she turned to Tara, who had been standing awkwardly with Juice and HalfSack, "You too, Doc."

Charlotte was the last one to arrive at the house's, seconds after Clay's arrival as he had just perched in his usual chair at the head of the table. Jax and Tara were already seated. Gemma was leaning against the kitchen counter.

Clay had no idea what this was about, but he did know that he was tired, agitated and anxious. The atmosphere was much like the time he'd found a positive pregnancy test in Charlotte's school bag when she was fifteen. He'd called an 'Emergency family meeting' after having a near heart attack. Only when Charlotte confessed that it was one of her friend's did he manage to regain a steady heartbeat and his blood pressure went back to a much more normal state.

Jax knew what this was about. Gemma was going to do a long speech and tell him to stay in Charming, forget about the Nomad tribe. Bring up some hippy philosophy shit about his father, similar to what Piney was referring to earlier. Well, it wouldn't work. He didn't care if Charlotte would hear about what he had to say regarding the Mother Charter President ordering a botched hit that got Donna killed. He'd spill every MC secret at the table to justify his departure if need be.

Tara knew what this was about, and she was dreading it. The butterflies in her stomach were doing somersaults and her throat was dry and scratchy. She was more nervous then perhaps Gemma was. What would Clay and Jax do? What would Charlotte say? What would they all think of her if they discovered she knew all along?

"Come on, sit down, come on," Gemma waved Charlotte over. Charlotte took a seat opposite Tara, happy to see a mug of coffee had been placed there for her, courtesy of The Doctor. Gemma slid into the seat next to her and began to talk.

"The night of Bobby's homecoming party, I was never in an accident...

Charlotte wasn't sure where this was going, her nerves only grew as Gemma's tale progressed. She grew even more perplexed when she saw Gemma glance at Tara who in return gave a slight nod of her head and a small smile for encouragement.

"...They raped me."

Charlotte choked on her coffee, managing to swallow it quickly and placed a hand over her mouth. She wasn't sure she heard Gemma correctly, but then Jax slammed his palm on the table so fiercely it made her jump. Gemma wasn't lying. It was the God awful truth and it had just ripped her heart out.

Charlotte's hand ghosted over the back of Gemma's before their fingers slipped into each other. Gemma clasped her cool hand with her warm one and at that moment Charlotte wasn't sure who was comforting who.

Before Charlotte knew what he was doing she was standing on shaky legs and giving Gemma as best a hug as she could with one arm. Her vision was blurry as her eyes filled with tear during the short walk through the kitchen. When she opened the back door the night air hit her and it felt good, so good Charlotte inhaled several times to calm herself.

She opened her palm and stared at Jax's patches she had picked up on the way out. No way could he leave now.

Jax appeared almost surprised to see her waitingthere, until she offeredd up her palm and the security light outside the door revealed his patches. He took them from her, then pulled her to him, landing a kiss on the top of her head before walking to his bike, their whole exchange silent. After what they'd just found out, words lost all meaning.

As Tara went to follow Jax Charlotte shifted her body and blocked Tara's pathway.

"You knew," Charlotte acknowledged, stoically.

Tara nodded, "I'm sorry that that happened -"

Charlotte turned away, not wanting to listen to Tara's excuses.

Charlotte had trouble sleeping after Gemma's horrific revelation. Even though it wasn't her that was attacked, Gemma was the closest person to Charlotte and it weighed heavy on her more and more with every day that passed.

At work, she couldn't help but see Zoebelle in Impeccable Smokes, talking and laughing with the locals like he'd lived there his whole life. Weston would show up occasionally with another tall man with greying hair, and they'd all shake hands and smile at each other like they knew all the secrets in the world. They probably did. LOAN had swept across America seemingly under the radar - Juice may be a computer geek but Charlotte had Facebook and Google and she found out her own stuff on LOAN and it's members - but one thing they didn't know was the almighty backlash of revenge that Sam Crow would dish out.

Charlotte clung onto that at night when all she could hear was Gemma's voice in her head, "_They raped me...they raped me, more than once...the night of Bobby's party, I was attacked."_

Chibs was upstairs taking a long shower after Charlotte pointed out a huge oil streak on his neck and chest. She went to the freezer to see what she could rustle up for dinner when a memory flooded into her mind and she started to cry.

Charlotte was 14 and the guys were going away on an annual charity run for Cancer for 5 days. It was the first time since Charlotte had lived with Clay and Gemma that the guys had been away and it was oddly quiet. Clay wouldn't come through the door every evening at 6.30pm; Jax wouldn't arrive shortly after on the scrounge for a free meal; Tig wouldn't pop up out of nowhere, not bothering to knock, and steal her dinner from her plate. But somehow, Gemma made sure Charlotte's routine was never broken and they managed to keep busy.

On day four, Charlotte caught Gemma in her bedroom, sobbing. Charlotte was frozen, fearing something tragic had happened to one of them. Through the crack in the door she saw Gemma sit up right, wipe her eyes and when she appeared downstairs minutes later Charlotte wouldn't have been able to tell that she had been crying if she hadn't seen her. Charlotte didn't ask what was wrong, but only the next day it happened again and this time Gemma saw Charlotte watching her.

"Yeah?" Gemma asked, voice not even faltering despite her red rimmed eyes.

"Sorry - I - Are you okay?"

Gemma gave her a look that said 'Are you crazy? I'm always okay.'

"I gotta let it out sometimes, away from Clay. Can't bleed your shit onto them," she explained.

Lexi and Albie's funeral was coming up in the next few days and Charlotte was dreading seeing Kasey again after what she had said to her last time. She couldn't offload to Chibs; with Fiona, Jimmy O, ATF, and LOAN going on he had a lot to handle too. She couldn't 'bleed onto him', as Gemma had phrased it.

If some_body_ couldn't help her then she'd get some_thing._She jogged up the stairs whilst Chibs was still in the shower and shouted to him that she was grabbing pizza for dinner. He stopped whistling his tune to acknowledge her announcement and she headed out in her car to the Lumber Yard. It was nearing 8 o'clock in the evening but she knew the person she wanted to see would still be there.

She had no idea how much the street value of Percocet was, so she stuffed a twenty in her pocket to pay for pizza and beer on the way back. Charlotte made sure her gun was off safety and in her bag in case the Nords got overly suspicious of her being there. She smoothed down her hair and pulled down her top to show some cleavage - tits went a long way with these kinds of people.

She exited the car, as cool and calm as she could. As soon as he spotted her he tensed, and looked around nervously. He knew who she was - didn't everyone in this town? - and he didn't want a repeat of last time with a huge biker boot pressed against his nutsack.

As she got closer she saw a Nord he was with turn his body to her, revealing a crow bar that could deal some serious to her face if she fucked this up.

"What Sam Crow send chicks to do their dirty work now?" The Nord laughed.

"I didn't come here for business with the Nords, I came here for Drew," she turned to the slender man beside him, dressed in black baggy jeans and a very faded green hoody. He gave her a curious look, still looking around for her 'friends'. She gave him a wink and a smile and he smiled back at her.

"Take five," Drew ordered, patting the Nord's back.

"I sure hope you're a peace offering," Drew spoke when the Nord was out of earshot, folding his arms over his chest.

"Kind of. Sam Crow needs to get hold of something."

Charlotte bought out a small wedge of money and Drew's eyes lit up. The recession meant he was having to give out credit to the semi-regulars just to move gear out of his garage that Darby kept forcing on him. Cold hard cash was hard to come by nowadays.

"Your boys nearly tore off my nutsack last time they were here for dealing now they want to buy from me?" He pressed, finally getting over Charlotte's femininity and thinking logically.

"No offense Drew, but you're a little fish in Sam Crow's pond right now. You want hard cash or what?"

He thought for a second. "What do you need?"

"Percocet."

Drew laughed and Charlotte had to hide her anger.

"Percocet? I push crank and pills, doll, the little P is a bit below me."

"Okay, I'll just go give the money to the Taxers in Lodi."

Charlotte started to walk off, putting the cash back in her bag. Drew grabbed her shoulder.

"Wait! Wait here."

He walked to his SUV nearby and walked back to her holding three bags of different colours, sizes and shapes of Percocet.

"Well, what's the difference?" Charlotte asked. She may be popping more than she needed of the stuff but she wasn't an expert on the medication.

"The pink is really weak - not worth the money, to be honest - the blue one's are exactly what the Doctor prescribes and the yellow ones will fuck you up."

"How much are the blue ones?"

"Hundred."

"Each?"

"No," he snorted, "for the bag."

Charlotte counted out five twenties and took the bag of blue pills, containing at least 30 of the tiny blue things. This would keep her sane for another couple of weeks.

"Anything else?" Drew asked, pocketing the money.

"No. But if you tell anybody I was here, or mention this meeting again, Sam Crow will come back and you'll loose more than your balls."

Drew swallowed hard, "A'ight, a'ight. Customer confidentiality and all that jazz. I get it."

Charlotte debated taking the Percocet with her to work or to leave it at home in a secret drawer. She couldn't figure out which was worse - getting caught with it by Chibs or Gemma, or having Heather see it at work. In the end she concuded that Heather had a much smaller bite, and after tipping in the blue pills from the see through ziplock bag into the original prescription bottle she set off to work.

The day was slow despite the decent weather and people milling about on the street. Heather had disappeared into the stock room sorting out a recent delivery when the door bell chimed, drawing Charlotte's attention to the tall, slim, red headed customer.

"Well, I'm glad to see that plaid shirts and motorcycle vests aren't the only thing you sell in this backward town."

Charlotte flicked her hardback book closed with a flick of her wrist.

Agent Stahl took off her grey work blazer and proceeded to try on a smart black ladies' diner jacket she took off the coathanger, her ATF badge hanging on her belt catching the sun light.

"This is cute. Real cute," she smiled, referring to the shop.

"Can I help you with anything? Fashion related, or otherwise?" Charlotte smiled, resting her hands on top of the book.

Stahl leant her elbow on a nearby shelving rack housing denim jeans, smirking at Charlotte.

"Where's Filip today?"

"I don't know."

"Awhh," Stahl pouted, "The Irish wife shows up and already you're kicked to the curb like last night's trash?"

"Either buy the jacket, or get out."

"Ouch. No wonder the store's so dead if you speak to all your clientele like that."

Stahl took off the black jacket and balled it up, throwing it on to the counter where Charlotte was standing.

"Ask Chibs what he did today. You'll be in for a story and a half."

The ATF agent collected her grey blazer, throwing it over her shoulder and giving Charlotte a wink as she exited.

"Charlotte, really, I don't know what's up with you. You're a very nice girl but you cannot keep being late like this. I'm letting you go."

Heather sat across from Charlotte in her small office at the back of the store. Charlotte had expected a warning or a talking to - but to be fired?

"No! Heather, please-"

"I'm sorry Charlotte, but even when you're here you don't work hard enough to make up for all the time you've missed. If you were ten minutes late I'd maybe understand but you're hours late, and when you do come in you shuffle around the store like you're in a trance or hide in the stock room all day. You've alread had two written warnings and one verbal. Today was the last straw."

"But my family-"

"I don't want to hear about your _family_," Heather retorted, loosing patience with the young woman, "Clay helped me set up this store more than my own brother did. I'm not stupid, I know who he is, I know what he does - what they all do - but I turn the other cheek because despite my brother being who is, despite people talking about me behind my back, deep down I know this town wouldn't be what it is without him."

Charlotte nodded, although she wanted to cry, but she felt sort of numb from that morning from the Percocet she bought from Drew. She'd blocked out some problems by continuing to take the drug but she'd unwittingly created another big one at work.

"I'm sorry," she offered, looking own at her feet.

"I'd like you to leave right now, I'll mail your wage slip. Call me when you figure your shit out."

Heather exited, leaving the door open for Charlotte and she walked through the store for one last time and went straight to her car.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight - Don't Fear The Reaper**

**This is an awesome song and it's by Blue Oyster Cult.**

* * *

Charlotte was totally wired from drinking 6 cups of coffee before 9am that morning.

When Chibs arrived at her house, pissed beyond measure at the revelation of Gemma's rape and his run in with that lanky red-headed bitch Stahl, it took him a few seconds to comprehend why Charlotte was cleaning so early in the morning.

He stalked into her kitchen, and Charlotte got that feeling like he was going to explode. He was pacing in the small area on the kitchen floor, Madison following his paces, sniffing at his hands like he was playing a game with her.

"What's wrong?" She asked softly, scouring away at the white top of her oven.

He finally paused, leaning against the fridge.

"Clay told us 'bout Gemma," he responded.

Charlotte stopped scouring and looked down at the frayed green pad.

"What are you going to do?" She asked because it was inevitable they would retaliate somehow. It was just a question of how and when and where.

Chibs didn't hear her question, he was lost in his own thoughts.

"You can't work at Heather's anymore."

Chibs, Gemma and Jax on three seperate occassions had approached her about quitting the store and taking up some hours at the garage office. None of them were keen on having someone like Zoebelle in so ease of reach of her. At first, Charlotte thought it endearing and a little comical, but then Chibs had been blown up, Lexi and Albie were murdered and Gemma raped. Not so funny anymore.

"I don't. I quit yesterday," she lied. Heather's firing of her had come as a blessing in disguise; a quick escape route from being in Zoebelle's sight. "I told her I was having 'family issues' and she understood."

"Good. That's good," Chibs nodded, going back to his pacing.

She hated lying to him, but he wouldn't understand why she felt the need to continue taking her prescription, her thought process behind it. That exact moment when the drugs kicked in and the edge was no longer sharp and dangerous but blurred and soft.

She took a step towards him but he froze, finally stopping his pacing and announced he was leaving.

"I got some shit to take care of," he cupped her face in his hands, "Stay inside today, yeah? For me."

"It's the funeral today," she reminded him, "I'm going with Gemma."

The muscle in his upper arm flexed, showing his discomfort at that remark. "Take someone with you."

"Clay's sending escorts. Happy and someone else, I think," she frowned trying to remember who exactly.

"Okay, good, I'll see you later," he kissed her quickly on her lips and he disappeared out the house.

"Shit, should he be driving?" She asked Madison.

* * *

More people from town had turned up for Lexie and Albie's funeral than Charlotte had anticipated. Gemma had gone as a support system for both Charlotte and Unser, who were now standing either side of her, arms around each of their shoulders. Charlotte was still wrapping her head around why Chibs had blown off the funeral earlier that morning, wondering why Clay hadn't put him there for an escort, doubling up as moral support for her.

Sometimes, she wasn't sure where the Club started and him not wanting to participate ended.

They were on the front row, standing in the same line as family members, mere feet from both wooden coffins as they were lowered in the ground side by side. The Priest's voice reciting a passage fom the Bible kept their attention. The graveyard was quiet otherwise, the sun shining but not overbearingly hot on the small crowd.

Tig, Happy and a few Tacoma members were scattered down the small street. They were namely there for protection for Gemma and Charlotte, but also to a lesser extent, Unser. The cemetary was a vast open field and the funeral was not a secret to the town. Clay was by no means underestimating Zoebelle and Weston. Funeral or not he wouldn't put it past them to stir some shit up.

Kasey stood opposite Charlotte on the other side of the two graves but Charlotte hadn't dared to meet her friend's eyes the whole service. She knew Kasey still blamed her for the death of their two friends, and to some extent Charlotte agreed with her and therefore couldn't be angry at her friend for feeling resentment to her and her family.

After the service Gemma walked Unser back to his car, Charlotte lagged behind them; Not only had Della skipped on Unser in his time of need but she hadn't even returned for the funeral of her sister's son.

Charlotte was waiting with Tig, who was sat on his stationary Harley, parked behind Gemma's car.  
Tig watched Charlotte with curious interest. She looked somewhere between desperate and sad, watching Kasey talk to Lexie's mother. Kasey started to walk slowly towards them and Charlotte stiffened.

"Hey," Kasey offered.

"Hi," Charlotte quickly returned. "Can you give us a minute?" She asked, turning to Tig. He just stared at her from behind his dark sunglasses.

"Please?" Charlotte added, thinking for a minute he was going to say 'no'. Then Tig threw his leg over his bike to dismount, walking to the front of Gemma's car and perched on the hood with his arms folded, scowling at all the funeral goers who were looking at him. Shouldn't they be mourning and shit?

"I want to say sorry for the way I spoke to you the other night. I'm not apologising for what I said, or how I feel, but I shouldn't have exploded on you like that," Kasey began.

"I understand," Charlotte nodded in agreement and fresh tears brimmed her eyes, "I'm so sorry," she whispered, dropping her volume down so Tig wouldn't overhear. "You're right, though. Sam Crow attracts the kind of people that don't think twice about doing this to innocent people. Lexi and Albie were in the wrong place at the wrong time. They were meant to kill _me_. I gotta live with the fact that one of my best friends is cold in the ground 'cause of what _my_ family does for a living."

"There you go again, bringing everything around to you._ You've_ got to live with what _your_ family did. You've done it since we were teenagers, and you're doing it now."

"Kasey - " Charlotte tried to quieten her friend down.

"I used to envy you Charlottte. You were untouchable. You were in the centre of a circle surrounded by your family armed with Harley's and guns with a name that carries weight in this town. But now? I kind of feel sorry for you, for what you have to deal with. I'm going to Arizona to stay with my parents for a few weeks. You look like you could do with a break, too."

"You're supposed to be my friend how can you say those things?"

"Because I _am_ your friend, Charlie, and you need to hear the truth. Your family's created this problem, and they better fix it fast."

Kasey handed Charlotte a clean tissue for her to wipe her eyes and she left with her fiance.

"What a buzz kill," Tig commented as he came up to stand beside Charlotte.

"Tig it's a fucking funeral," she snapped, "nobody's buzzing."

"You okay?" He asked, nudging her arm with his.

"No. Get me the hell outta here."

* * *

Back at the Clubhouse, Charlotte found Clay sitting unusually alone at one of the small round tables, reading _The Charming Times_. He practically knew everything that was in the paper, but he liked to make sure he was fully up-to-date with town news.

He heard the door open but figured it was the Prospect on another drinks run, so he didn't even bother to look up, until a handbag was thrown on his newspaper blocking his view. He looked up with a bemused expression to see Charlotte staring back at him.

"This is all your fault!" She spat out at him.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise, and leant back against the chair. She hadn't lashed out at him like this since he cancelled her Spring Break trip to Mexico while she was still in High School.

"Can you be a little more specific?" He asked with a smile, stretching his arms above his head, which riled her even further.

"_This!_ What happened to Gemma? To Chibs? Lexie and Albie too - everything's all your fault!"

Clay's smile quickly vanished and was replaced by surprise, then anger. He landed his elbow on the table with a determined thud and thrust a pointed finger at her.

"I don't give a shit what relationship the law dictates we have, you overstep like that again, there's gonna be consequences," he warned.

"Did you know that attack was meant for me? It could've been _me _you were burying today," She continued, "You and the Club's stupid gun running bought Zoebelle into this town and you're getting people attacked, raped and killed! When's it gonna stop, Clay? What, if anything, are you doing about it?"

Clay's chair scraped againt the ground as he stood up, blocking the sun that was once shining through the window and onto Charlotte.

Bobby, who had been runing through some figures in the back room, eating a chocolate chip muffin, had ventured out to see what was happening.

"You do not come into this Clubhouse, _my _Clubhouse, and speak to me like that," Clay told her calmly, although the way his chest was rising and falling rapidly as he breathed showed he was using all his will power to keep himself in check.

Charlotte let out a short, sharp laugh, and Bobby flinched at the look Clay got on his face.

"You're only pissed at me 'cause you know I'm right."

"Sam Crow protects this town. Leave now or I'll exile you - I don't give a shit what anybody says or how that makes you feel!"

Charlotte's eye flashed wide in surprise. Reality had hit her. She'd been consumed and in turn blinded by anger. Her conversation with Kasey had been ringing in her ears the entire drive and when combined with the images of Chibs lying in the hospital bed, Albie tied to the front of the car, Lexi dying in her arms and Gemma's revelation about her attack not even the Percocet she took earlier that day could calm her down any.

Within seconds Clay saw her in a different light; her eyes were still puffy, bloodshot and red rimmed from crying but she'd lost that crazy, angry, almost psychotic look. As he looked at her closer he saw that her pupils were dialated even though the sun had shifted and was shining on her through the high windows of the building.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He asked, and the tone of his voice indicated he wasn't just talking about right now.

Charlotte blinked and physically shook her head.

"Sorry."

She rubbed her forehead with a hand and even though Clay wouldn't forget what she said to him in a hurry, he started to feel something was off with her.

"Charlotte-" He started and made a grab for her hand but she turned and swiftly exited the Clubhouse. In wake of her disappearance Clay noticed Bobby there for the first time, hanging back near the kitchen. He looked a little sheepish, like a kid caught eavesdropping on their parents.

In an explosion of his own anger Clay grabbed the edge of the table and flipped it over, making a huge clattering sound on the floor followed by the rustle of his abandoned newspaper, some pages falling slowly from the air. He paced a few times, hands rubbing on his head - How dare _she _or _anybody _stalk into his clubhouse and talk to him the way she did? Where had that outburst even come from? He already carried the weight of what what happened to Gemma, to Chibs, on his shoulders - he didn't need some pissy princess routine like that to make him feel worse.

When he turned back around to Bobby he discovered Tig instead.

"She didn't meant any of it," he started, rubbing his forehead with his thumb then hooking it into the loop of his jeans, "I think you know that."

"Think? You don't think, you act," Clay replied, flicking the 'Sergeant at Arms' patch on his cut.

* * *

Charlotte was lounging on the sofa. She'd taken a pill that she bought from Drew earlier and it had calmed her down a lot. It made her legs feel like dead weight, but her mind was empty and she felt free as a bird.

An untouched glass of wine sat on her coffee table, _The Hills_ marathon showing on MTV on her television at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. She'd been off work for a mere day or two and this had become her life?

A sharp knock on her front door made her jump, the scent of a strong and distinctive perfume immediately filling her senses.

Oh shit. Gemma.

By the time Charlotte had sat up straight on the sofa and made an attempt to smooth her clothes down, Gemma had fully entered the room, her handbag thrown onto the nearest sofa.

"Been a strange day," she started, perching on the arm of a chair. After the funeral Gemma had ran home, thrown on a pair of jeans and had all intentions of completing errands in town but somehow found her way to a bench outside a Church, lighting up with Father Francis.

"Yeah," Charlotte agreed, with a single nod of her head.

"How's things between you and Chibs?"

That was the last thing Charlotte had expected Gemma to say and as such whirled her head round in surprise. Gemma raised one eyebrow in response.

"Um, I, I don't know," Charlotte fumbled. It was like being called upon to answer a question in class when you were talking to a friend.

"I - I thought that the hardest part would be our age gap. But it's not," Charlotte ended her response with brows pulled together in confusion.

"He's hurtin'."

"Shit, Gemma, I know! But you know me; you know shit builds up inside and then when it explodes I loose it to the wrong person. Just happened to be Clay. I want to say sorry but I don't know how."

"Not talkin' 'bout, Clay."

"Oh. Chibs? He was fine earlier. Little distracted but-"

"You _never_ let them get distracted," Gemma told her slowly, eyes boring into Charlotte's before picking up her handbag. Apparently, Gemma wasn't staying long.

"Gemma!" Charlotte called, leaning over the arm of the sofa in order to see Gemma as she walked towards the front door. "What do I do about Clay?"

* * *

Someone knocked on her door and she groaned, burying her head in a cushion. She didn't want to face anyone, and now she had two visitors in a day?

When her visitor knocked again, harder, and tried the door knob she pushed herself off the sofa and held her breath as she looked through her peep hole and saw Jax.

Charlotte opened the door, not saying a word, and he didn't either. He entered, not acknowledging her, immediately walking into the living room throwing something on her coffee table before falling into the nearest chair.

She closed the door, walked back to her seat on the sofa and noticed that Jax had bought her handbag back to her after she left it at the Clubhouse earlier. He had entered to find a table overturned, her bag and a copy of _The Charming Times_ lying all ripped up nearby.

"Hear you and Clay got in to earlier."

His tone wasn't predominently accusing or probing. It was just a statement.

"Not as bad as you and him at County."

It was supposed to be a stab at light humour, but Jax didn't quite see the funny side of it. When he scowled at her, she bowed her head, kept herself small.

"Think this is funny?"

_Now_ he was accussing. Her comment made him impatient, more agitated and it showed. He crossed a leg over the other, propped his elbow on the arm of the chair, resting his head in his hand.

She picked lint off her black cotton stretch trousers.

"I don't know what you want me to say," she said honestly when he just sat there, still and silent. She blinked and a tear dropped onto her leg. "I was just so angry at him, at everything."

After a brief silence Jax spoke again.

"Look at me."

She moved her head, staring at his white sneakers.

"Look _at_ me," he repeated, slower. She moved her gaze to his blue eyes and waited for him to speak again.

"Remember that book I had at Donna's funeral? That was the same book I gave to you."

"You mean the pages in the ringbinder?"

"Yeah. What did you make of it?"

"I - I don't know. I didn't understand a lot of it."

"You finished it yet?" He pushed, remembering seeing the bookmark in it the other day.

"Nearly. But it was just stories of the Club that your Dad wrote. What he used to do."

"Exactly. What he _used _to do. Read between the lines, Charlotte. Sam Crow started off as a Harley commune, a brotherhood."

"It still is a brotherhood," Charlotte commented, not really understanding where Jax was going with this. He was just confusing her more and more.

"Yeah, but a brotherhood with guns," he inhaled sharply, nostrils flaring and he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, rubbing his hands together as he tried to explain it to her. He didn't want to _tell_ her what he was wanting to do, he wanted her to be with him, feel the same way he did about it.

"The guns - we loose more than we earn. Money, turf, blood. We pissed it all down the drain for mostly nothing. The guns most likely drew Zoebelle to this town, but he's here for something else, I know it. I blame myself for what happened to Gemma. I gotta live with that. I can't erase it, nobody can. But blowing up at people? At _Clay?_ You're asking for serious trouble there darlin'."

Charlotte nodded in agreement, taking a few seconds for Jax's monologue to sink in. "You want to stop the guns?"

Jax nodded, "Yeah."

"You can't do it by yourself?"

"I need the guys behind me, I need support both in and out of the Club. First we gotta deal with Zoebelle and Weston, make everything right there before I can push this forward."

"Clay's hands are getting worse - it's no secret. A few more years when he can't turn the throttle, you'll be Prez. You can call the shots then."

"A few years? You really think we're gonna last that long, considering what's happened here in the past two months? Read the book again. Cover to cover." He reached over and placed a hand over her knee.

Charlotte nodded and Jax placed a goodbye kiss on her lips.

* * *

Chibs didn't make contact with her again until much later that night. Charlotte found herself woken up by the turning of a key in her door lock. Apparently she had fallen asleep on her sofa at God knows what time. She bolted upright, straining to see the time on the digital clock on her DVD player. As she rubbed her eyes she noted that her visitor smelt of alcohol.

"Charlie?" Chibs called from the front door, peering into the living room at the person shaped mound moving on the sofa. He flicked on a small table lamp to submerse them both in some light.

"Hey," she greeted, voice a little rough from sleeping "I tried calling you earlier?"

He threw his keys onto the coffee table, the smell of alcohol stronger now but he didn't seem drunk at all.

"Yeah, Club stuff," was the answer he humoured her with. She noticed that his shoulder's tensed as he spoke. "We're on lockdown," he told her sitting on the arm of the sofa, staring at the wood of her coffee table.

"When?"

She'd been half expecting it. LOAN was unpredictable to say the least, and with them being the new players in town Sam Crow weren't really akin to what dirty aces they had up their sleeves. They had to tread carefully, but still make an imprint. To Charlotte, the lockdown proposed only one meaning. Sam Crow were hitting LOAN hard to flush them out, and were keeping their entire family ffrom any repercussions.

"Tommorrow morning, ten o'clock. Shit with Zoebelle is..." He didn't need nor want to give her the four-one-one on that Nazi wannabe and his raping bastard of a boyfriend.

"You had a shitty day."

It was more of a statement then an announcement. Chibs reste dhis elbows on his legs, fingers delving into his longer hair like he was massaging his own head.

"You had a really shitty day," she spoke softly as she crawled across the sofa to him. When she wrapped her arms around him he leant into her slightly then wrapped an arm around her, the other one going up her shirt, fingers running across the smooth skin of her stomach, unblemished because of her young age.

"I just wanna keep you safe," he spoke into her hair, hand venturing up to the material of her bra as he pushed them back onto the sofa.

* * *

The next morning, Jax turned up with the van and Tara's Cutlass at Charlotte's, on time, as planned.

"Oi! You ready?" Chibs called throughout the house when he spotted the VP pulling into her driveway.

"I'll be down in one minute!" Charlotte's voice came across clear, albeit slightly muffled from upstairs.

He walked into her kitchen where she had packed her stuff up and left the bags on the counter. Her hand bag was left open, and he knew that he shouldn't look, but the white bottle sitting on the top stood out to him. Taking it in his hands he read the label: _Percocet._

When Charlotte came down she saw him at the kitchen counter holding her bottle of Percocet that she had filled with the drugs from Drew. A bottle was slightly less conscipous than a clear ziplock druggie bag.

"You still taking these?" He asked.

_Yes._

"They're left over, thought I'd bring 'em incase someone got hurt," she shrugged. When and why had lying become so easy for her?

_Put them back! Just leave it alone!_Chibs made a sound of agreement, throwing them back into her bag and they headed out to the waiting van. Madison was piled in the back, the kids lavishing much appreciated attention on her. Charlotte sat in the passenger seat as Chibs drove, giving Tara daggers in the back of her head as she drove the Cutlass ahead of them.

Arriving at the Clubhouse, Charlotte felt a little on edge. The last time she was there she had lost it at Clay.

She rounded up the kids and Madison out the van and into the Clubhouse as fast as possible, but hung back herself. She felt on edge to say the least. The last time she was there she had lost it at Clay.

"Hey," Jax walked up behind her, hands gently going on her shoulders, "Come on we're the last ones." He guided her into the Clubhouse, signalling to Tig to command quiet from the group of people, as Charlotte parked herself in between Chibs and a blonde. When his arm moved around her, drawing her closer, the blonde pouted slightly and Charlotte gave her a look that made the blonde not only look away but she shuffled to another spot in the room. Charlotte smirked to herself. Despite how she felt inside, she still had _it_. **(not sure about the blonde bimbo bit)**

Tara took a sip of her coffee, mulling over Gemma's words in her head and joined the Queen in watching the small tv screen split into 4, watching the areas the CCTV cameras had been pointed at.

Charlotte was visible in one screen corner, sitting on one of the picnic benches just outside, bouncing Abel up and down on her knee. She walked off screen and seconds later entered the Clubhouse, a Sam Crow member behind her, heading towards Gemma.

"Everything okay?" The Queen inquired, hand reaching out to stroke Abel's cotton baby boots.

"Yeah just giving him a break from the smoke," Charlotte smiled, bouncing her nephew on her hip. He smiled, briefly, then started whining that told everybody he was hungry.

"I can take him if you're busy-"

"No. I got it."

Charlotte interrupted Tara, giving her a scowl and a cold shoulder before kissing Gemma's cheek and disappearing into the kitchen to get Abel's feeding bottles.

"She hates me," Tara declared when Charlotte was out of ear shot.

Gemma snorted, "Charlotte hates only person and you ain't her, darlin'".

"She's pissed at me for _you _hiding the rape from her for so long."

"Whatsamatter? Little Tara not got any friends in the playground? Tara, she's young, she's still got a lot to learn about life. Get over it."

* * *

"Do you love her?"

"You can't ask me that," Chibs scoffed.

Chibs had concluded it would be a good idea to tell Charlotte he was reaching out to Fiona, rather than just show up at the Clubhouse with his estranged wife on the back of his bike. Telling her had resulted in 10 minutes of the silent treatment, then ten minutes of bickering back and forth.

"Well I just did," Charlotte huffed, putting her hands on her hips and standing up straight, putting her face into a scowl that showed how much she wasn't keen on this idea of his.

"She's the mother of my daughter - my _only_ daughter," he reasoned, getting tired and irritated of having this conversation already, going over and over the same things.

"Why are you risking your life for her? She wouldn't for you!"

"You don't know her, you don't know what's happened!" He snapped.

Their voices were getting louder and louder and if anyone happened to be passing Chibs' room at the moment would be able to hear everything they were saying.

"Well then tell me, 'cause I'm having a hard time seeing what good this is gonna do for you - for any of us!" She snipped back.

He paused in his reply, looking at her through slightly narrowed eyes like he was trying to look more closely at her.

"You wouldn't understand," he replied in a low voice before opening the door.

"I understand you're an asshole!" She managed to yell at him just before the door closed between them. "And that you're a fucking idiot for doing this!" She yelled at the wooden door.

He heard her - he couldn't miss her words by the way she was screeching them at him.

"Will you be gone all night?" Charlotte asked in between biting her nails. Chibs took her hands in his, pulled them away from her mouth and kissed her hand.

"Don't know, darlin'," he answered truthfully as she spat out her bitten off nail to the ground.

"Nice," he noted.

"We make a good pair," she smiled, pointing to a smear of grease on the thigh of his denim jeans.

"Come 'ere," he ordered, cupping the back of her head. Just as his lips were about to cover hers, Charlotte felt a heavy hand on her shoulder. She whirled her head to the side and was utterly surprised to see Chucky standing there.

"I'll take care of her while you're away," he told Chibs with the utmost sincerity.

Charlotte bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. Chucky was a big softie but it was the wrong time and place for his comment.

"_**I**_ can take care of _**my**_ Ol' Lady," Chibs sneered, quickly removing Chucky's deformed hand off Charlotte's shoulder.

Chucky looked hurt for a second.

"I accept that."

Charlotte steered Chibs to his bike before she had a replay of the incident with Jonny. He sat sideways on his seat and Charlotte stepped in between his legs.

As soon as Chibs' lips were pressed on hers, Charlotte could taste the slight tinge of his blood from when Stahl had slapped him earlier. As he brushed her tongue with his, an all new taste came through, one she'd never experienced before.

"You kissed someone else," she accused, pressing her fingertips to her lips, "You kissed _her_."

She took a step back to immediately put some distance between them.

He had the audacity to look surprised. "What?"

"Why?" She pressed.

Chibs dropped the shocked act, and turned his eyes away from her, drawn down to the ground. He couldn't look at her or himself right now.

"Do you still love her?" She pressed.

"I was trying to protect my family!" He answered her sharply.

"Am I not your family?"

Chibs sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair in frustration. He'd told her he was reaching out to Fiona, concluding it was better to give her fair warning rather than just show up with Fiona on the back of his bike. Words between them got a little heated before he gave her no option but to like it before leaving to meet with Fiona.

They both stood in silence for a few seconds mulling over what to say next. A soft breeze came across the lot, rustling Charlotte's hair, blowing it all over the place and it brushed Chibs' bare arms. The feeling bought his attention back on her.

"I told her I was tryin' to protect Carianne," he said quietly, almost like he was ashamed, "She still didn't come."

She didn't know what to do or think. She wanted to both kick him in the balls and give him a hug. Tell him everything was going to be okay. Family was Chibs' vulnerable spot, a huge button that someone could easily press and when they did, it screwed with his brain and turned him inside out.

Charlotte reached her hand over to him, covering his left breast pocket where his heart was and balled her hand into a fist, her short nails making a slight scratching sound against his patches and the leather of his cut.

"Fillip...," she whispered, focussing her eyes on his, "You have a big heart and it's both your biggest virtue and your biggest flaw. You have a burning desire to protect the ones you love, but don't go wasting energy on the ones that won't love you back."

She placed her hands on his shoulders for balance as she leant forward and kissed his cheek.

"Be safe."

His hand reached up to grab her arm but he was too late and she was already a good proportion of the way back to the Clubhouse.

As Charlotte was making a beeline for the Clubhouse she was only aware that Clay was there when his arm reached out and blocked her pathway. He pulled her to him and relief washed over her as he held her to him.

"I'm so sorry," she apologised, wrapping her arms round his large frame.

"I forgive you, but I won't forget what you said in a hurry. I love you."

"I love you, too."

Clay pulled away first, needing to get on his bike and lead the way out the parking lot. Charlotte was thankful that she had sunglasses on top of her head, eagerly pulling them down over her eyes to hide the tear.

Chibs watched Clay and Charlotte, mulling over in his head what she told him as he placed his helmet on his head. Why did she say that? Couldn't she be normal and slap him round the face? Call him a bastard and kick his bike out of spite? It had been over between him and Fi for years, but deep down he wanted to be the one to protect her, sweep in at the face of danger and lock her away so she would be safe, the same as Carianne in Belfast - she was still the mother of his only child, and that accounted for a little something inside him.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine: The Sound of Silence**

**If anyone wants to ask me a question about the fic, any character, anything that's happened or you want to suggest something you would like to see more/less of, or send me pictures/graphics pertaining to the story I'm open to any of that.**

* * *

The front doors of the Charming Police Department swung open and everybody turned their heads to see who it was.

Drew, the Nords drug dealer, exited.

Charlotte held her breath as he began the long walk to a waiting car.

Everybody seemed to ignore him, until he approached the steps and spoke.

"Charlotte," he acknowledged her with a nod and she glared at him, wanting to smack that smirk right off his face. Chibs, who had been flicking his lighter over and over to get a flame to light the cigarette dangling between his lips, snapped his head up. The cigarette was soon lit and he jumped down from his perch on the railing, blowing smoke in the young man's face as he intercepted his path.

"Keep walking, scumbag," Chibs growled at him, inhaling his cigarette again.

Drew frowned, thinking and threw another look at Charlotte. That son of a bitch realised that the Sons didn't get Charlotte to purchase from him. As much as he would like to call her right there and then the Scottish brawler was inching his way to the smaller built guy. Knowing he wasn't going to win this battle Drew jogged down the concrete steps, disappearing down the street in a car.

"What was that about?" Chibs asked Charlotte nodding his head to the drug dealer.

Charlotte opened her mouth to speak, trying to think of a plausible excuse to give him right now.

"Ass hole is Hank's brother, went school with him," Jax offered with a smirk, "Still can't get over the beating me and Ope gave him at football practice, tries to piss me off any chance he gets."

Jax and Opie shared a smile over that particular incident which led them both to being suspended for all of two days after giving him a broken index finger and a concussion.

"Arrogant little shit, ain't he?" Chibs muttered.

In the silence of Chibs' dorm room at the Clubhouse, Charlotte had room and time to think. And that wasn't proven to be a good thing.

With nothing to distract her; the guys still waiting at the police station and Gemma and Tara out getting 'supplies', she had considered the past few weeks. The arrival of LOAN, Gemma's rape, Lexi and Albie's death, Fiona's unexpected appearance on this side of the pond, and her getting fired.

Charlotte sat on Chibs' bed, running her sweaty palms up and down her thighs, eyeing her handbag. When she'd been prescribed the Percocet in the first place, the Doctor told her she could take one twice a day, or when the pain got really bad. Or something like that. She couldn't remember his exact words, but she did remember that she used to take one in the morning and one at night.

She reached to the floor and pulled her bag to her. She'd had one in the morning aleady, it wasn't even mid-afternoon but she was having one now. She'd just skip the one for tonight.

_It's fine_.

She popped the lid on the white bottle and shook some blue pills into her waiting palm. These looked tiny. Much smaller than her other ones.

_Half the size, half the effect._Charlotte popped two in her mouth and swallowed them with a mouthful of water from the bathroom sink.

* * *

Charlotte's head was getting a little fuzzy and she decided that maybe heading outside for fresh air only to smoke a cigarette wasn't the best course of action.

She re-entered the Clubhouse, intent on going for a lie down.

"Hey, Charlie! You look like you need a drink, come have a shot with us!" Tony, one of the Tacoma members shouted to her from behind the bar, standing with Kozik, Happy and two girls they must've picked up on the way down 'cause they sure as hell weren't from Charming.

"I was just-" She started but then Happy held up his fore and middle finger, beckoning her over like he did his fighting opponents.

Four shots later and Charlotte's idea of lying down had completely floated out the window. Most of the Tacoma guys had rode away after the first shot, leaving her in the company of the two girls. One of them barely spoke English, she sounded Portugese or Dutch, and the other one was just plain weird but they kept refilling her glass and giving her all kinds of compliments.

Piney poked her with the butt of his shotgun.

"Oi," he grunted, "You look like shit."

She sat upright, too fast and her head spinned. "Are they back?" She asked, pressing her palms into her forehead trying to regain equilibrium.

"No," he grunted again. "If you're gonna hurl, do us all a favour and miss the bar. Bad for business," he chuckled.

"I love you too, Piney, you mean old mother fucker," she muttered to herself as she got down from the barstool onto shaky feet.

The jukebox was playing a song she didn't recognise that had a heavy guitar riff and it was making her head worse, she could feel the bass pounding in her ears and chest. Coupled with the crack of the balls pounding into one another from a game of pool was making it unbearable to stay in the bar. People laughing and talking echoed in her ears like she was underwater, so she headed slowly don the hallway to Chibs' bedroom, deciding to wait for him there.

Halfway there, her jeans pocket vibrated and it unnerved her, sending her into a small fit of blind panic. After a few rings she discovered what that strange feeling was.

"Hello?" She managed to answer.

"Charlotte, is Tara with you?" Jax asked quickly.

"Jax?" Charlotte asked, looking around for him, "Where are you?"

"Is Tara with you?" Herepeated.

"Urr," Charlotte looked around, again, making herself dizzy. "No?"

"Is she _with _you yes or no?" He pressed.

"No."

"You at the Clubhouse?"

"Uh-huh."

"A'ight stay there," he ordered.

"Jax. Jax? Nathan's here," she whispered into her phone as Nathan Drone suddenly appeared at the end of the hallway, near the window. She couldn't scream. She darted into the training room, samming the door behind her.

_Fucking hell Charlotte, focus! Nathan's dead, you've had too much to drink._

She walked to the wal which was entirely lined with mirrors, pressing her palms against the cool reflective glass.

_Breathe deep. That's better._she opened her eyes, watching her mouth open and close as she inhaled and exhaled. She'd had too much to drink, nothing serious.

Charlotte frowned when she noticed her hair started turning a different _c_olour. It went lighter, morphing to a shade of red. Her face suddenly became older_, _wrinkles appeared on her forehead and around her eyes.

She was turning into her mother.

"I'm nothing like you!"

Charlotte slammed her fist against the wall, enough to make the tiles shake, but not enough to smash them.

"You're exactly like me," her mother told her from the mirror, "You're a drug addict. You'll be shooting crank up your arm in no time!" Sharon gave an evil laugh and Charlotte smashed her fist on the glass again.

"Shut up! I'm not like you, I don't bail on my family," she spat at her own reflection.

"Really?" Sharon raised an eyebrow,"You don't think everytime you swallow one of your little blue pills you turn your back on your family that bit more?"

"You're not real." Charlotte reasoned, shaking her head to shake the vision.

"Only because you fucking killed me!"

Charlotte screamed in frustration and picked up the smallest weight from the dumbellslying on the floor. She hurled it at the mirror, smashing her mother into hundreds of shards of glass onto the carpet.

The room spun around her and she was enveloped in a sudden wave of intense nausea. Black dots danced in front of her eyes and she felt herself falling back for a second.

_

* * *

Kozik was returning from the bathroom to his pool game when what sounded like a window smashed down the hallway, where the bedrooms were. He took a few steps down the hallway, trying to make as little noise as possible. The last person to go down there was Charlotte, so he called out her name._

When he didn't get any reply he moved further down and drew his gun, wondering if any of those Aryan shit heads got left behind and had managed to smash their way through a window somewhere. He heard another noise, like a soft thud followed by mumblings.

"Yo, Harper!" He called over his shoulder to the nearest person to him. Kozik nodded his head down the hallway and motioned, with gun in hand, that he was going down the hallway. Harper immediately understood, pulling out his own gun and flicking the safety off, resting his beer on the nearest table before giving Kozik a nod indicating he was ready and had his back.

The Tacoma Sergeant at Arms went further to the hallway and soon discovered the noises were coming from the training room. Kozik motioned for Harper to come down to him, and the two men flanked either side of the door.

Kozik counted on his fingers 1...2...3 and he kicked the door with his large boot, Harper behind him covering his back.

"What-?" Was all Harper could say when they saw Charlotte lying on the floor, body convulsing and something coming out her mouth. The two men stepped closer, Kozik spotting the smashed mirror on the other side of the wall indicating that was the source of the noise that drew him there in the first place.

Kozik moved to her first, practically falling to his knees and grabbed Charlotte's shoulders to roll her onto her side, allowing the sick to fall from her mouth and not choke her. This was going to do wonders for the reputation of the Tacoma Sons charter - letting the Mother Charter's President's daughter choke to death on her own sick whilst they were holding down the Clubhouse. That would be one hell of an agenda to tackle at the next Chapel meeting.

"Call an ambulance!" Kozik ordered the other man, pulling Charlotte's eyelids up to see if she was even marginally conscious. All he could see were the white's of her eyeballs as they rolled backward in her head.

"What happened?" Harper asked breathlessly, like Kozik knew. Charlotte had only taken a shot with them that whole day; they'd all drank the same stuff and they were all fine.

"Call a _fucking _ambulance!" Kozik repeated, getting frustrated as to why his friend was just standing there and kept asking stupid questions.

Charlotte suddenly convulsed strongly and more vomit was expelled from her mouth, but still she didn't wake up.

"Call 911!"

**THE END.**

NOTE: Before you ask me, 'Are you _really_ ending it there?' the answer is yes, yes I am. This really is the end for this fic. It will continue after Season 3 airs.


End file.
